11.   Although this is the first court decision in which auditors were in the frame, other cases involving allegations of negligence by auditors are under way.

12.   Auditors must be independent because their job is to review the financial statements companies have prepared.

13.   Auditors must be independent from their clients because their job is to give an unbiased opinion on whether the financial statements are fair and accurate.

14.   Auditors are independent, outside firms, hired by publicly held companies to audit their books because securities law requires it.

15.   Auditors are less likely to stand up to clients about questionable accounting for fear of losing their consulting business, the critics say.

16.   Auditors are only human, and their impartiality can be assured only by removing the conflicts of interest that create their biases.

17.   But auditors can never be truly independent when they are hired and fired by the companies they audit.

18.   But if auditors were to examine bureau records, Smith said, it would appear that the bureau spent the money as Congress dictated.

19.   But so were the auditors.

20.   But Theresa Bourgeois, a spokeswoman for McCall, said auditors were careful not to rely entirely on the E-ZPass records.