And "there's a great deal of sentiment for some expeditious resolution."

A 'Heads of Agreement' was signed which commits the parties to a process to bring the matter to an expeditious resolution.

"The public's interest in an expeditious resolution of these cases is especially pronounced since the indictment charges the defendants with corrupting governmental power at the highest levels."

A Coca-Cola spokesman, Ben Deutsch, said, "We continue to work toward an expeditious and equitable resolution of the lawsuit."

"We remain confident in our position and look forward to a fair and expeditious final resolution" of the savings and loan cases, the statement said.

"We're still hoping for an expeditious resolution of this," said Sondra F. McCarty, a spokeswoman for the State Department.

But yesterday, in a four-paragraph memorandum, the judge reversed himself and said I.B.M. could file the petition to "further an expeditious resolution of this case."

"We're looking forward to an expeditious resolution of the inquiry and we're confident the matter will be concluded favorably to Mr. Meese," he added.

Rather, it hopes to insure that the commission obtains all pertinent information and, by working with all concerned agencies and parties, reaches an appropriate and expeditious resolution.

"The irony is," Mr. Cole said, "we're the ones seeking expeditious resolution at every stage."