Ending a stormy tenure, Ryan left the U.S. attorney's job last month after he was fired in December by his bosses in the Justice Department. Ryan was one of eight U.S. attorneys whose firing has prompted a political firestorm over accusations that the Bush administration axed federal prosecutors for political reasons.

However, Justice Department documents released as part of a congressional inquiry show that Ryan was let go as a result of ongoing concerns about his flawed leadership and sagging morale in the office, even as it investigated some of the most important cases in the country. Those included the Balco steroids probe and the widening investigations of backdating stock options in Silicon Valley.

Career Justice Department official Scott Schools is serving as interim U.S. attorney while California Republicans search for Ryan's replacement. The leading candidates for the job include former San Francisco U.S. attorney Joe Russoniello, former federal prosecutors Dave Anderson, Patrick Robbins and Mike Shepard, and current prosecutors Tim Crudo and Mark Krotoski, according to lawyers familiar with the screening process.

Dann accused the companies of making and selling lead paint even though they knew that it is harmful, and said they should be ruled in violation of the state's public nuisance law.

The other companies in the lawsuit are American Cyanamid Co., Armstrong Containers Inc., Conagra Grocery Products Co., Cytec Industries Inc., and Lyondell Chemical Co.

Croatia's direct economic benefit, depending on the pipeline's capacity, is expected to range between 1.3 and 2.2 billion U.S. dollars, and Croatia's investments in the project would range from550 to 980 million U.S. dollars, Sanader said.

The project would also significantly reduce oil tanker transport in the Adriatic, the prime minister added.

The PEOP, estimated to be some 1,856 kilometers long, will connect the Romanian port of Constanta and Trieste in Italy, running through Romania, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia to the Trans-Alpine Line oil pipeline near Trieste.

The pipeline is expected to be put into operation between 2011 and 2013. It would effectively cut down on the number of oil tankers in the Turkish straits and Northern Adriatic.

The total cost of the PEOP project is estimated at 2.62 billion U.S. dollars if the pipeline's annual capacity is 60 million tons, or 3.96 billion U.S. dollars if its annual capacity is 90 million tons.

The declaration was signed at a forum on energy security, held in Zagreb as part of Croatia's presidency of the Southeast European Cooperation Process, a regional and non-institutionalized process coordinated by the presiding country.

European Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs, who also signed the declaration, said that global oil demand was expected to increase by 41 percent in the next 25 years, which underlined the importance of building necessary infrastructure linking markets with oil-rich regions.

The signing of the declaration was also welcomed by officials from other signatory countries, who cited the stability of oil supply from the Caspian region and possibilities of regional development as the main advantages of the project.

Slovenian Economy Minister Andrej Vizjak said the declaration should not be binding, but convey good political will.

"If the project is approved by experts, Slovenia will support it in view of the common energy policy," said Vizjak.

Dell Financial Services (DFS) has found and reported several operational deficiencies in its business, including the way it has posted customer payments, collected on delinquent accounts and failed to reconcile some accounts on a timely basis, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission by the company's primary financing partner.

The report filed by CIT Group's collateral unit, which has funded some DFS operations, is among the first under new, more stringent rules enacted by the SEC that are designed to provide greater detail to investors in asset-backed securities, securities that provide cash for many credit and leasing operations.

The items spelled out do not involve accounting issues.

Gavan Goss, DFS' chief financial officer, told CRN the issues involved have either been fixed or are in the process of being fixed.

DFS is a joint venture between Dell and CIT Group and has become Dell's US$6 billion-a-year financing arm. According to CIT Group's disclosure, DFS fell short of complying with its role under the financing terms in a US$1 billion asset-backed securitization sale, including the following:

A failure to make sure its third-party "lockbox vendors" - like banks - completely and accurately met compliance reporting requirements. DFS reported this as a "material deficiency" in this aspect of its operation, according to the CIT filing.

DFS reported "certain loss mitigation or recovery actions that were not initiated, conducted or concluded in accordance with the required time frames established under the transaction agreement," according to the CIT disclosure.

DFS took more than an allotted 90 days to reconcile certain accounts last year.

Through the middle of last year, DFS had about US$6 billion in assets under management, and the unit has become strategic to Dell's long-term plans. In addition to providing credit and financing so customers can buy its products, Dell executives have said DFS offers a competitive advantage to rivals because it gives the company an ongoing touch point with customers during the life of a product or a financing agreement.

As of Dell's most recent financial reports last year, computer and service sales through DFS accounted for more than 10 percent of Dell's total revenue. And while Dell owns 70 percent of the joint venture with CIT, it has an agreement to buy the rest of DFS outright as early as next year.

DFS executives told financial analysts in a teleconference last year that about half of its financing activity was conducted with commercial customers, and about half through consumers.

The plaintiffs included 12 states, including the three West Coast states, American Samoa, several cities and 13 environmental groups, but not Hawaii. Justice John Paul Stevens, writing for the 5-4 majority, noted that the plaintiffs submitted "uncontested affidavits" that "the rise in sea levels associated with global warming has already harmed and will continue to harm" those areas. "The risk of catastrophic harm, though remote, is nevertheless real."

Nowhere is that potential harm greater than in the Pacific. The world's sea level is projected to rise by as much as 23 inches by 2100, compared with 6 to 9 inches in the past century, the International Panel on Climate Change of the United Nations reported in February. Other estimates are more pessimistic.

Much of Waikiki could be underwater in the not-too-distance future, and the president of Kiribati has notified the United Nations that many of his 100,000 citizens will have to find other quarters when the atolls become unlivable in 50 years.

California has taken the lead with a new law to cut nearly 30 percent of carbon dioxide emissions on cars sold in the state beginning in 2016. A dozen other states have enacted similar laws, and Hawaii's Legislature is nearing approval of a bill aimed at lowering the state's greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.

The effort to control emissions must be national. The high court ruling means that EPA is allowed to regulate emissions, giving momentum to Congress to eliminate any wiggle room and require that it do so.

That is understood by Rep. John Dingell, a Michigan Democrat who supports the auto industry and is chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. In a prepared statement, Dingell said the ruling "provides another compelling reason why Congress must act, and the president must sign, comprehensive climate change legislation."

The arrest of John Zarcone, an attorney and the scion of one of Putnam County's best-known political families, on charges of cocaine possession and threatening to kill his wife has shocked the many people who know him from public life.

The aggressive, tough-talking lawyer who shaped development in his town as leader of its Planning Board was arrested Sunday night by Putnam County sheriff's deputies.

Zarcone, 45, was accused of having cocaine and hydrocodone, a narcotic painkiller contained in prescription drugs such as Vicodin, as well as calling and verbally abusing his wife before threatening to kill her.

Zarcone released a brief written statement shortly after 5 p.m. yesterday, sent via fax from his law office. It said that he had turned himself in to police and had "now placed myself in a rehabilitation facility."

"I am fortunate to have the support of my loving wife and children in this difficult time," he said. "I look forward to overcoming this problem and resuming a normal life."

His mother, Marie Zarcone, also an influential figure in Republican Party circles, denied yesterday that her son had drugs on him at the time of his arrest. She also said he had checked himself into a treatment program. She refused to give further details.

"This is a domestic situation, and this is a first offense," she said. "He is seeking the medical help he needs, and he will be exonerated."

Law firm blogs build and strengthen relationships through the sharing of knowledge in specific practice areas. Law blogs also are used to announce such things as verdicts and firm success stories, legal articles and reviews, and changes in legislation. Marketers say this is the newest way to talk to target audiences, providing a friendlier venue for client communication. Consultants fear that numerous voices and opinions projected through a firm's Web site could create a perception of disorganization and chaos.

Kevin O'Keefe of LexBlog.com believes that legal commentary and insight is critical to every law firm's success.

"Law firms should no longer worry about being taken seriously when blogging," he writes. "Americans are accepting blogs as part of the fabric of our society."

O'Keefe's statement stems from concerns that important issues are being treated carelessly when discussed in a casual forum such as Web logs. To that end, advisers suggest that law firms continue producing newsletters, e-alerts and annual reports, and to treat blogs as an expansion of Web site marketing. When managed properly and written correctly, legal blogs can project author articulation, industry intelligence, and technical sophistication.

Too much of a good thing causes problems though, as in the case of a New Jersey law firm, which nearly lost its insurance coverage due to blog material. The carrier told members of the firm that they could not cover the firm's Web site if blogging continued, viewing the ongoing conversations as a liability since content could be perceived as legal advice.

With all of the necessary disclaimers in place, a legal blog can help a lawyer build professional credibility and expertise if reliable, quality information is posted. The outcome is the achievement of client loyalty, a return on an investment of time. As one critic argued, Web blogs are easy and inexpensive to start, but extremely difficult and time consuming to maintain. The jury is still out on a firm's financial gain after launching practice blogs, but when compared to the publication of glossy brochures and firm magazines, one thing is certain: Talk is cheap.

http://www.wvrecord.com/news/193099-your-legal-writes-law-firm-blogs-post-mixed-results