The 2006 budget shows that last year the FBI received $5.7 billion in federal funding while the DEA received $2.4 billion. The DEA said it would be unable to sustain employment at its current level if Congress does not allot an additional $95 million, and ATF officials say they need $71 million more in order to maintain its 4,900 employees. Observers say that the failure to approve 2007 budgets for the DOJ agencies could impede efforts to counter both violent crime and terrorism. While other agencies are feeling the burden of the lack of budget approval, Congress has already approved budgets for the military and for homeland security.

Reed Smith LLP, one of the 15 largest law firms in the world, has announced the selection of James J. Barnes as the Managing Partner of the Pittsburgh office. Barnes is the first African-American partner at Reed Smith to become an office managing partner.

Mr. Barnes takes over from Carolyn Duronio, who has been elected to the Executive Committee and the position of Reed Smith Corporate Secretary.

"James' skills in strategic planning and management make him exceptionally qualified to fill this key role in our Pittsburgh office," said Gregory B. Jordan, Reed Smith's firmwide Managing Partner. "Carolyn did an excellent job in this role, and we know that James will continue to keep Reed Smith in the forefront of the legal profession in Pittsburgh as the firm continues to evolve into one of the world's leading law firms."

A 1988 graduate of Howard University School of Law and 1984 graduate of Dartmouth College, Mr. Barnes joined Reed Smith five years ago as a partner in the Corporate & Securities Group. He has a wide range of experience in corporate and securities law and regularly assists public companies with preparation and review of SEC reports. His extensive experience includes representing companies in merger and acquisition, joint ventures and other complex corporate transactions.

"I intend to build on Reed Smith's more than 129 years of history as a major legal services firm in Pittsburgh," said Mr. Barnes. "I welcome this opportunity to assume leadership at the firm. I am currently developing plans that will build on and advance our well-established reputation in this community."

Atop Mr. Barnes' current agenda are activities and events that inform the Pittsburgh business community of Reed Smith's rapidly expanding range of services, including its global capabilities. "We've been here long enough to become a household name in the local community," he said. "But many individuals and businesses don't realize that we're not just your grandfather's law firm anymore. Today's Reed Smith has offices on three continents, including 13 in the U.S., five in Europe and two in the Middle East. We have top-tier attorneys in Pittsburgh and around the world who can handle any kind of litigation or transactional matter across any business or industry sector. My goal is to ensure that Pittsburgh businesses are aware not only of who we have been and what we have done in the past, but who we are now and what we can do for them now and into the future." Among his responsibilities as Pittsburgh Office Managing Partner will be assisting with the firm's move into its new space in 2008.

Mr. Barnes will continue to build his personal practice serving companies conducting business in the old and new economies, ranging from public utilities to information technology companies.

Carolyn Duronio, who held the role of managing partner of the Pittsburgh office for 6 years was elected to the firm's Executive Committee in the role of Corporate Secretary. According to Greg Jordan, "Carolyn's election to this important role is a natural because she has been a real leader in our firm, and we look forward to her continuing leadership."

About Reed Smith

Reed Smith is one of the 15 largest law firms in the world, with more than 1,300 lawyers in 20 offices throughout the United States, Europe and the Middle East. Founded in 1877, the firm represents leading international businesses from Fortune 100 corporations to mid-market and emerging enterprises. Its attorneys provide litigation services in multi-jurisdictional matters and other high stake disputes, deliver regulatory counsel, and execute the full range of strategic domestic and cross-border transactions. Reed Smith is a preeminent advisor to industries including financial services, life sciences, health care, advertising and media, shipping, international trade and commodities, real estate, and education. For more information, visit reedsmith.com

U.S.: New York, Los Angeles, Washington, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Oakland, Princeton, Falls Church, Wilmington, Century City, Richmond, Leesburg

Europe: London, Paris, Munich, Birmingham, Piraeus

Middle East: Abu Dhabi, Dubai

http://www.reedsmith.com

President Bush Friday signed into law new federal legislation seeking to protect traditional, wireless, and internet phone calling consumers by preventing phone companies from selling their private phone records without customer authorization and criminalizing attempts to obtain those fraudulently. The Telephone Records and Privacy Protection Act of 2006 passed the Senate in December in response to the Hewlett-Packard corporate spying scandal that broke this past summer.

The Act prohibits "making false or fraudulent statements" to phone company employees in an effort to obtain confidential phone records. It also forbids "accessing customer accounts through the Internet" without authorization. Those who contravene the Act can face up to 10 years in prison.

In November, Argentine officials announced that the investigation into abuses committed during Argentina's "Dirty War" from 1976-83 would be expanded to include the tenure of Peron, who succeeded her husband Juan Peron when he died in office in 1974. After the announcement a lawyer for Isabel Peron told a local television station that accusations shouldn't be made against her 30 years after she left office. Peron was ousted from office in a bloodless coup in March 1976 and held under house arrest for five years before being exiled to Spain.

The Justice Department has today reached a settlement resolving allegations that Compass Bank of Birmingham, Ala., engaged in a pattern of lending discrimination against individuals based on their marital status.

The government’s complaint alleges that Compass Bank violated the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, which makes it unlawful for any creditor to discriminate against any applicant based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status or age by unlawfully charging higher interest rates to co-applicants for automobile loans who were not married to each other than to co-applicants who were married.

The Justice Department and Compass Bank reached a consent order, which was filed in conjunction with the complaint, in federal district court in Birmingham, Ala. Under the agreement, which remains subject to court approval, Compass Bank is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of marital status in any aspect of its automobile lending.

“Under the law, marital status should have no effect on an individual’s access to credit,” said Wan J. Kim, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “We will continue to vigorously enforce the federal laws that prevent discrimination in credit and lending services. We commend Compass Bank for working cooperatively with the Justice Department in reaching an appropriate resolution of this case.”

Compass Bank has already implemented changes to its lending procedures that explicitly prohibit distinctions based on marital status, and it is required to maintain these changes under the agreement. In addition, Compass Bank will pay up to $1.75 million plus interest to non-spousal co-applicants who were charged higher interest rates, and it will provide enhanced equal credit opportunity training to its officers and employees who set rates for automobile loans.

The Federal Reserve Board referred this matter to the Justice Department for enforcement after its 2003 periodic examination gave the Board reason to believe that Compass Bank’s loan pricing procedures and directives constituted a pattern or practice of discrimination. Compass Bank cooperated fully with both the Board’s and the Department’s investigations into its lending practices and agreed to settle this matter without contested litigation.

Bryan Wagner, the private investigator involved in the Hewlett-Packard corporate spying scandal pleaded guilty Friday to federal charges of conspiracy and aggravated identity theft. Wagner was accused of using used the social security number of a targeted reporter to obtain the reporter's telephone records, which Wagner provided to other co-conspirators. The charges carry a possible five-year sentence for conspiracy and a mandatory minimum of two years imprisonment for the aggravated identity theft charge. Under Wagner's plea agreement, he will cooperate with prosecutors in future investigations in exchange for a lighter sentence.

In November, Wagner pleaded not guilty to state charges of using false or fraudulent pretenses to obtain confidential information from a public utility, unauthorized access to computer data, identity theft, and conspiracy to commit those crimes stemming from his role in the corporate spying scandal. The scandal prompted Congress to pass anti-pretexting legislation in 2006, criminalizing obtaining phone records through fraud or lying.