31.   After that, agencies have a small window of opportunity to plead their case.

32.   After pleading his case with some choice words, he was hit with a technical foul.

33.   But after First Union pleaded its case in meetings, presentations and in advertisements, Bellenger became convinced that the merger could be a good one.

34.   But as commissioners have pleaded their cases the targets have been reduced in some cases, Lackman said, though they presumably increased in others.

35.   But as these tenants pleaded their cases, their complaints ranged far beyond eviction threats as their voices coalesced into a buzz of near-hysteria.

36.   But he is pleading his case to a bishop who is no longer listening.

37.   But he was waived early the following week, and his agent arranged for Collins to plead his case on national television.

38.   But others plead his case.

39.   But pleading the case for El Duque was tougher because his defection was more painful for the Cuban government.

40.   By having to plead his case to the public school board, he said he had to scrutinize his proposal from all financial, administrative and educational angles.