William F. Weld, the former head of the department's criminal division, and two of his former deputies, Mark E. Robinson and Jane E. Serene, are expected to specialize in white-collar criminal defense work at the politi-cally well-connected firm, Hale & Dorr.

The well-connected firm, based in Parsippany, has been representing Xanadu's developers since they won a bidding war in 2003 to bring the project to the Meadowlands.

One well-connected firm that fell from the top 10, however, was Fischbein Badillo Wagner Harding, which in 1996 had ranked ninth with revenues of $370,177.

Regulatory economics is the economics of regulation, in the sense of the application of law by government that is used for various purposes, such as centrally-planning an economy, remedying market failure, enriching well-connected firms, or benefiting politicians (see capture).

The handsome, muscular Sonny has used the war years to earn a law degree, to work for a politically well-connected firm and to win the heart of his boss's daughter, the pretty and clear-eyed Karen, whose family is a generation ahead of Bella in assimilation.

It has faced a storm of bad publicity, a wave of defections and increasing competition from other well-connected firms.

Dannel Malloy, whose annual salary is $114,000, practiced law for a well-connected firm in town for nearly a dozen years before becoming mayor in 1995, and he and his wife have successfully rehabilitated a number of Stamford properties before moving into their current home.

Mr. Murtaugh, who is no longer in the Assembly, was represented by another well-connected local firm, Schneider, Kleinick, Weitz, Damashek & Shoot.

A23 The inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security said his office had received accusations of fraud and waste in the multibillion-dollar relief programs linked to Hurricane Katrina and would investigate how no-bid contracts were awarded to several well-connected firms.

It was coordinated by the public relations firm of Hill & Knowlton and revolved around polling done by the Wirthlin Group, the well-connected firm that polled for President Ronald Reagan.