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Pastimes : Clown-Free Zone... sorry, no clowns allowed -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lucretius who wrote (160671)	4/17/2002 10:30:31 PM
From: Terry Maloney	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 436258

luc, who isn't? You're taking this way too personally, imo ... <g>

To: Lucretius who wrote (160671)	4/17/2002 10:46:12 PM
From: Box-By-The-Riviera™	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 436258

well, you know what clayton williams said. Just make sure you are in front of a decent campfire on something that passes for a ranch when you ditto his comment man. If you don't, the stetson has to be returned to the factory.

To: Lucretius who wrote (160671)	4/17/2002 11:33:51 PM
From: BigMoney	Respond to of 436258

huh? are you serious? something happen? what did i miss?

To: Lucretius who wrote (160671)	4/18/2002 5:52:30 AM
From: Bocor	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 436258

Thursday April 18, 4:00 am Eastern Time Andersen Settlement May Unravel, as Enron Shareholders, Creditors Clash Arthur Andersen LLP scrambled to settle a criminal case with the government Wednesday night as the accounting firm's plans for resolving its civil litigation troubles showed signs of unraveling, Thursday's Wall Street Journal reported. Andersen raced to meet a last-minute deadline imposed by the Justice Department in its case alleging that Andersen obstructed justice by destroying tons of documents related to botched audits of its former client Enron Corp., people familiar with the talks say. Meanwhile, a dispute erupted Wednesday between lawyers for Enron shareholders and the energy trader's creditors. The dispute centered on the fine print of a proposed $300 million settlement of lawsuits and other civil claims arising from the accounting giant's audits of Enron, according to people familiar with the talks. Two major sticking points, they added: how to divide the spoils from the settlement, and demands by the shareholder plaintiffs that a group of banks that are also defendants in the suits give up their rights to use any Andersen settlement to reduce future judgments against them. As of late Wednesday night, neither side seemed ready to budge, according to people familiar with the matter, suggesting that the civil deal could collapse. The talks have been taking place before a court-ordered mediator, and the parties have been operating under a strict confidentiality order. But Wednesday, the dispute went public, with lawyers for one of Enron's biggest creditors, J.P. Morgan (NYSE: JPM - news) Chase & Co . openly attacking the shareholders' position. A civil settlement has become a linchpin to the overall resolution of Andersen's legal woes, linked to two other settlements the firm was attempting to reach with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department, people familiar with the case said. Thus, a failure to resolve plaintiffs' civil claims could scuttle Andersen's efforts to resolve the separate SEC probe. Wednesday, Andersen and other parties in the mediation still were attempting to win the banks' support. But attorneys for the various parties in the civil- settlement talks broke off their face-to-face discussions around 3 p.m. , and many headed straight for the airports after leaving the New York offices of Andersen's outside law firm, Davis Polk & Wardwell, where the discussions were held. Attorneys in the case were still communicating with each other and their court-appointed mediator, Eric Green, but the discussions yielded no resolution, said people familiar with the talks. The SEC is seeking a fine or restitution from Andersen as part of resolving a securities-fraud probe of the firm. But its ability to quantify that penalty and to collect is dependent on the funds left over after any civil deal. Meanwhile, in the criminal case, a major feature of the Justice Department's proposed "deferred prosecution" agreement with Andersen would be a series of reforms that would be spelled out in detail in the SEC agreement. The concern is that a collapse of the civil deal therefore could have a domino effect on the other settlements. Meanwhile, Andersen partners were told that the government was demanding the firm admit wrongdoing by partners related specifically to the Enron audit, and an acknowledgment that the wrongdoing by partners was Andersen's responsibility.