Asked why he would want to remain as attorney general amid so many calls for his ouster, Gonzales said he‘s been asking himself lately whether it‘s appropriate for him to stay in his job.

But, he said, "at the end of the day, it‘s not about Alberto Gonzales. It‘s about this great Department of Justice that does so many wonderful things for the American people."

The House voted 329-78 to strip the attorney general of his power to indefinitely appoint federal prosecutors, approving a bill similar to one passed in the Senate. President Bush , who is standing by Gonzales, has signaled that he will not veto the legislation.

Oracle's lawsuit accusing rival SAP of stealing proprietary information is a serious escalation in the battle between the software giants that may create fear and uncertainty among customers, some analysts say.

"Clearly it's a very fierce rivalry that just keeps getting ratcheted up," says James Kobielus, principal analyst for data management at Current Analysis. "It's not surprising they'll continue to duke it out with each other through all available channels. ... Oracle has made no bones about the fact that it covets SAP's primary standing in the business application market. SAP clearly feels the threat from Oracle on that front."

Oracle Thursday accused SAP and its TomorrowNow subsidiary of engaging in "systematic, illegal access" to Oracle's computerized customer support systems. TomorrowNow provides third-party maintenance and support in large part for Oracle applications drawn from its PeopleSoft, Siebel and JD Edwards product families.

Oracle's lawsuit defends against TomorrowNow "looking to undercut a major revenue stream by offering half-rate support," writes Martin Schneider, an analyst at 451 Group. But Oracle has done the same in the past, he writes in analysis issued in response to the lawsuit.

"It is interesting that Oracle has been guilty of the same kind of activity with its recent underselling of RedHat Linux support," Schneider writes. "But since the JDE and PeopleSoft products are under proprietary licenses, Oracle has much more legal recourse than RedHat. But we wonder how much (Oracle) IP SAP did gather that is really hard to come by, since most of the later PeopleSoft bug fixes and patches were built using the open source Eclipse toolkit."

Oracle's lawsuit claims that SAP illegally accessed and downloaded more than 10,000 pieces of Oracle IP off its customer portal, Schneider notes.

A Jackson law firm has sued millionaire trial attorney Richard Scruggs for allegedly withholding money it claims it was owed for working on Hurricane Katrina insurance-related litigation.

The lawsuit was filed March 15 in Lafayette County Circuit Court by Grady F. Tollison Jr. on behalf of the Jones, Funderburg, Sessums, Peterson & Lee law firm in Jackson. No court date has been set for the lawsuit.

Tollison has requested a jury trial. Tollison was not in his office Tuesday and was not immediately available for comment.

Scruggs is one of the nation's wealthiest trial attorneys. In the late 1990s, his Mississippi-based firm earned nearly $1 billion in fees for his part in reaching a landmark $250 billion settlement with tobacco companies. He used that windfall to finance lawsuits against insurance companies for denying thousands of policyholders' claims after Katrina destroyed their homes.

Scruggs created a legal team, called the Scruggs Katrina Group, to represent the policyholders. SKG's work led to a settlement with State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. that will earn the attorneys about $26 million. Those legal fees are at the crux of the lawsuit.

Zach Scruggs of Oxford, Scruggs' son and law partner, said Tuesday that he could not immediately comment on the lawsuit. Also named as defendants in the lawsuit are other members of the SKG team.

The lawsuit, which gives only one side of the legal argument, alleges that senior partner John G. Jones and other members of the Jackson law firm deposed witnesses, handled briefs, filed motions and other tasks for Scruggs' group.

Specifically, the lawsuit mentions Jones and his law firm's work on a July 2006 lawsuit, filed by SKG on behalf of Pascagoula police officer Paul Leonard against Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. over denial of Leonard's claim.

Jones participated in the questioning of witnesses in that lawsuit. The lawsuit notes that the agreement with SKG did not specify a percentage of fees that each participating law firm would receive.

The exception was a Ridgeland law firm that had agreed to finance part of the SKG joint venture.

The lawsuit alleges Scruggs and other conspired to "freeze out" the Jones firm and offered it a "ridiculously low figure" for its "substantial" work. Jones claimed his firm was offered a $1 million payment and was told it would get nothing from the legal fees to be paid by State Farm, according to the lawsuit.

Jones contends Scruggs declined to negotiate or enter into arbitration to settle the fees issue and kept Jones' law firm out of any other lawsuits filed by SKG. The Jones firm claims it is entitled to 20 percent of all past attorney fees collected by SKG and 20 percent of all future attorney fees SKG collects. The lawsuit also asks for unspecified punitive damages.

Georgia's Ministry of Justice said Monday it has filed a lawsuit against Russia with the European Court of Human Rights for the alleged illegal deportation of Georgian citizens last year.

"The lawsuit is based on thousands of instances of serious violations of human rights of Georgian citizens and ethnic Georgians during their deportation from Russia," the ministry said in an official statement.

Russia and Georgia became caught up in an intense diplomatic row last September when the arrest of four Russian officers in Tbilisi on spying charges prompted Russia to deport hundreds of Georgians, cut off mail and transport links with Tbilisi as well as crack down on 'illegal' Georgian businesses.

Mikhail Kamynin, the Russian Foreign Ministry's official spokesman, said that "such actions by Tbilisi officials will not help [the two countries] normalize bilateral relations, which Russia is striving for."

Vissarion Bokhashvili, Georgia's representative at the Strasbourg Court, is expected to make a statement on the lawsuit later Tuesday.

According to unofficial information, the Georgian side will present evidence of deported citizens who allegedly suffered from inhumane treatment at Moscow's police detention centers, as well as documents proving that their stays in Russia were legal.

Relations between Georgia and Russia have been strained ever since the Western-leaning government of President Mikheil Saakashvili came to power in 2003.

In addition to tensions over the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which Saakashvili has pledged to restore to Georgia proper, Georgia's ambition to join the Western NATO military alliance has been sharply criticized by Russia.

Last March, Russia banned Georgian wine and mineral water, dealing a heavy blow to the ex-Soviet republic's fragile economy.

Following the spying row, the situation deteriorated further when Tbilisi subsequently threatened to withdraw its support for Russia's WTO bid.

Goldman Sachs Groupdelayed until April 11 a vote on a shareholder's proposal to prohibit issuance of new stock options to executives. At its annual meeting Tuesday morning, shareholders overwhelmingly defeated two other proposals the company opposed regarding its charitable contributions and environmental policies.

Goldman delayed the options vote because the proposal was left out off the Feb. 21 proxy document sent outlining the annual meeting agenda. Goldman on March 19 sent shareholders an amended proxy with the proposal.

Goldman Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein apologized to longtime corporate governance gadfly Evelyn Y. Davis, who made the proposal, for losing it. Davis had addressed it to former Goldman Chairman and CEO Henry Paulson rather than to Blankfein, who assumed the top posts last June. (Davis suggested at the meeting that Goldman fire its corporate secretary for the mishap.)

The proposal would bar Goldman from granting options to "anyone" because the awards "have gone out of hand in recent years," Davis's proposal says, and create distortions in managing the company because options can be tied to short-term earnings gains. Goldman's directors oppose the plan because it would put the investment bank "at a disadvantage in retaining, motivating and recruiting employees," the proxy said. Blankfein on Tuesday said the company needs both stock grants, which Davis supports, and option grants to successfully compete.

Blankfein was paid $54 million last year, including 209,228 options that the proxy statement valued at $10.5 million. His two lieutenants - Presidents Gary Cohn and Jon Winkelried - each collected options valued at $10.3 million. The trio collectively received about 21% of all options Goldman granted employees last year.

Net income at Goldman rose 70% in 2006 to a Wall Street record of $9.4 billion while its stock price soared 56%. Blankfein's compensation rose 42%.
As of the end of last November, the 52-year-old executive held $63.2 million of options that he had not yet converted into stock, according to the proxy statement.

A Goldman shareholder earlier this month filed a lawsuit against claiming the bank awarded too many options to top executives because it miscalculated their worth under the Black-Scholes valuation model it uses. The lawsuit against the firm and its directors seeks to void the election of directors at the meeting and to require a new accounting of the options.

Options granted the firm's top five executive officers in 2006 are worth $23 million more than Goldman disclosed in its proxy statement, the lawsuit said.
A Goldman spokesman said the company will "vigorously contest" the lawsuit.

On Tuesday, about 93% of voting shareholders approved electing all the bank's directors to one-year terms. Fewer than 7% voted for proposals from politically conservative interest groups that would have required a semiannual accounting of its charitable contributions and, separately, a policy paper explaining its environmental policies. A representative of the National Legal and Policy Center, which sponsored the charitable donation proposal, lashed out at Goldman on Tuesday for donating funds to Rainbow Push and other organizations led by Rev. Jesse Jackson.

In other matters, Blankfein said Goldman expects to raise $19 billion to $20 billion in its new private equity fund. The fund is about to be closed, and the amount raised is more than double money raised from outside investors and the firm itself in any of its five earlier private equity funds.
In another private equity discussion, Blankfein said Goldman maintains good relations with The Blackstone Group, despite the bank's absence from the underwriting group leading the private equity firm's initial public offering. Goldman sometimes can't do deals because of conflicts, he said.

He also defended Goldman's growing commitment of its own capital to trading and investing, saying the increased risk has been justified by supersized gains in capital and profits in recent years. The proprietary activities do not jeopardize relations with corporate clients because Goldman maintains "very very strict, high impermeable walls" between its client and proprietary activities to avoid conflicts of interest, he said.

He cited its status as Wall Street's biggest merger advisor and raiser of equity as testament to clients' loyalty.

Blankfein said he opposed government regulation of hedge funds because of the difficulty in creating "sensible regulations" for firms that rely on the funds' "very nimble" trading strategies. Goldman has no direct investments in hedge funds, but provides trading services and short-term loans to the funds through its large prime brokerage business. Goldman also manages almost $200 billion of its own and clients' money in alternative investments such as private equity and hedge funds, he said.

Fielding questions from shareholders on other issues, Blankfein said Goldman has no plans to split its stock, which currently trades at more than $200 a share, or close down its stock specialist operations on U.S. exchanges.

Shares of Goldman were down $1.36 to $210.37, or .6%, in early afternoon trading on The New York Stock Exchange. Shares of its largest competitors were off by about 1%.

A lawsuit was filed Monday in Perry County Circuit Court by Illinois Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey M. Feltman on behalf of Attorney General Lisa Madigan and the People of the State of Illinois against Du Quoin's Heartland Ford Inc., Automotive Partners Inc., Illinois Automotive Partners Inc., Peter Iodice and Donald James McPherson alleging consumer fraud and deceptive business practices.

The suit alleges that the company allegedly took vehicles as trade-ins and did not pay the outstanding debts resulting in damages to a number of individuals. 

The suit also alleges the business in many instances didn't pay sales taxes, license and title fees and other expenses that it contracted to pay when people traded in their vehicles to purchase other vehicles.

The suit seeks to enjoin defendants from engaging in any vehicle business in Illinois, to have contracts with harmed people rescinded, and it asks for a civil penalty against each defendant of $50,000 per violation of the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practice Act.

Feltman said the first priority is assuring that none of the corporations or individuals comprising Heartland Ford is ever allowed to engage in the automobile sales business in Illinois. Along with the injunctions being sought, the state is also seeking restitution and rescission, he said.

Rescission would in essence nullify the outstanding contracts between Heartland and the people whose contracts weren't followed by Heartland and its owners, he said. He said this would require payment of all of the outstanding obligations.

The chancery suit lists a dozen people who allegedly purchased vehicles between April 7, 2006, and June 5, 2006, with the deals including a vehicle trade-in on which they owed from $1,680 to $18,457 but which was not paid off by Heartland as was promised in the deal.

The suit claims that one or more of the individuals suffered damage to their credit ratings, that they have been "dunned" by creditors, that they have had to make payments on both their old and new vehicles, that they have been charged for repairs that should have been covered under extended warranties that they paid for but for which funds weren't forwarded to the appropriate places.

It's also alleged that in one or more cases, the involved parties had their licenses revoked for having no insurance, that they have been driving without insurance because they can't insure vehicles for which they don't have paperwork or that they are unable to get titles and licenses for vehicles.

The lawsuit alleges that Heartland, located at 1355 S. Washington St., was dissolved involuntarily June 16, 2006, after an Illinois Secretary of State Police investigation. According to the suit, Heartland was acquired by Automotive Partners Inc. between Sept. 29, 2005, and Feb. 16, 2006, and ownership transferred to Illinois Automotive Partners Inc. On that February date, McPherson allegedly paid $100,000 to Peter Iodice for a 10 percent interest in the business and since that time they operated as co-owners, Madigan's suit claims.

It further alleges that they operated as owners from then until the business was closed down and during that time they failed to pay off trade-in loans, Department of Revenue taxes, third party gap insurance, extended warranties and license and title fees on numerous vehicles and yet McPherson allegedly deposited money in an account at the Du Quoin State Bank from which he withdrew $100,000 between May 29 and June 15, 2006, despite owing the outstanding debts.

Feltman said those named in the suit are representative of 31 complaints the office has on file from former Heartland customers. He said the investigation led authorities "to the conclusion that litigation was the only option" to assure no more problems occur and that the victims are properly compensated.

The defendants in the case have 30 days to file a response to the lawsuit; Feltman said it is "total speculation" as to how long it will take to resolve the case. It could be completed soon or could last for some time.

In the meantime, he said if others have complaints against the business they should call the attorney general's regional office at 529-6400 for a consumer fraud complaint form and complete and return that form.

Those whose complaints are already being handled, Feltman said, should contact private attorneys to learn what their rights and obligations are at this time regarding the outstanding debts on their vehicles, both new and trade-ins.

Perry County State's Attorney David Stanton said he is awaiting reports from investigating agencies before determining if and what charges he might file. He said the Secretary of State Police and Attorney General's office have been working together on the investigation and filing of the civil lawsuit this week and he anticipates soon having reports that will enable him to determine whether or not criminal charges are appropriate.

According to a recent story the Manchester Times of Manchester, Tenn., Iodice was extradited to Tennessee March 13 and is in Coffee County Jail for contempt of court for allegedly failing to appear in a chancery case there in August 2006 to account for funds and automobiles from the Manchester Chevrolet of Tennessee, Inc. which he formerly owned.

Authorities say Iodice, 57, of Ruby, S.C., recently received a suspended 10-year sentence and was ordered to pay $100,000 restitution to a Ford dealership in Cheraw, S.C., after pleading guilty to obtaining property under false pretenses. Officials said the investigations are continuing.

In the meantime, about a dozen vehicles still remain on the lot of the closed Du Quoin dealership as many unhappy former customers are making two car payments for vehicles either there or in locations unknown, officials said.