71.   Purjes, in an interview, declined to say whether he believed the firm did anything wrong.

72.   Reflecting the pedigrees of its partners, the firm did everything from international law and commercial work to literary representation.

73.   Robert Gutierrez, marketing vice president for Kal Krishnan and a close friend and major fund-raiser for Alatorre, said his firm only did what EMC asked.

74.   Search firms will do everything they can to please a company to win repeat business.

75.   Separately, each firm has done fairly well.

76.   Small firms often do well in their early years, but many run into trouble coping with rapid growth in their workforces and assets under management.

77.   Some firms did better.

78.   Some law firms do a brisk business providing legal opinions on the deals.

79.   Southern Co. officials say the firm has done nothing wrong and they have vowed to fight the lawsuit.

80.   Some firms do significant business with old-money families, but even they can be seen as difficult.