31.   But the firm did not.

32.   But the San Jose firm also did something different.

33.   But the statement insisted that the firm itself had done nothing wrong.

34.   But top partners at the firm in Houston and Austin insist not only that the firm did nothing wrong but that its business has not been seriously hurt.

35.   But while many ethically enlightened firms are now doing well, some investors still want to goose their profits.

36.   Civiletti also said that the volume of legal work his firm did for MBNA was incidental and that he, too, considered himself independent.

37.   Critics of the windfall, they say, are uninformed about the amount of groundbreaking work the firm did.

38.   Despite its tiny size, the Bader firm has done extensive work for the Florida pension fund as well.

39.   Eventually, his firm did sophisticated work worth millions of dollars for the US military and other agencies.

40.   Even so, Columbia could still opt not to sell, as other private money management firms have done recently after testing the market for possible buyers.