March 12, 2002

Enron Corp's law firm Vinson & Elkins has come under assault because of its clubby interrelationships among Texas's business, law and political leaders; internal investigation of Enron led by University of Texas Law School dean William C Powers Jr complained of lack of 'objective and professional advice' by outside counsel at Vinson & Elkins; Larry Doherty, Houston lawyer who sues other lawyers for malpractice, argued that sophistication and breadth of deals that brought Enron down 'couldn't get past the conceptual planning stage without calling in the legal architects'; Doherty, who calls Vinson & Elkins, 'the second government of Texas' has sued firm in past, but is not involved in any suits related to Enron; members of House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on March 14 will ask firm's members questions about relationships with Enron; senior partner Harry M Reasoner says firm has prepared and delivered letter to its clients explaining its position; it has hired Joseph D Jamail, one of city's best and most flamboyant trial lawyers, to defend it; Jamail denounces Doherty; photos (M)

BMW says net income rose last year to 1.87 billion euros ($1.64 billion) from 1.2 billion euro, while sales rose to 38.46 billion euros; photo (S)

Letterman to Stay at CBS David Letterman will keep his late-night talk show at CBS, spurning an offer from ABC that would have displaced ''Nightline.'' PAGE C1

New Jersey imposes statewide restrictions on water use, including ban on watering lawns and washing cars in most of state, citing fact that some areas are down to 100 days' supply of water after warm, dry winter; commercial users, including landscapers, golf course operators and farmers, will still be able to use water, though at restricted volumes or times; photo; map (M)

Securities and Exchange Commission requests documents related to WorldCom Inc's accounting for value of companies it has acquired since Jan 1, 1999, as well as documents explaining WorldCom's reasons for taking $685 million pretax charge against earnings in third quarter of 2001; company says charge was uncollectible debts and expenses related to lawsuits and contract disputes; letter asks that WorldCom comply within two weeks; request covers 24 topics, including disputed consumer bills and sales commissions, relations with Wall Street analysts, loans to WorldCom executives and directors, and various investigations of company's operations by federal and state regulators; Qwest Communications International Inc receives letter from SEC asking for documents related to three accounting controversies; inquiry covers Qwest's treatment of long-term contracts in which it sold capacity on its high-speed voice and data networks; request also covers Qwest's reporting of deals in which it sold equipment to companies from which it purchased Internet services as well as information about QwestDex, company's huge telephone directories business (M)