AIRLINES

DELTA AND NORTHWEST RACK UP LEGAL FEES

As Delta and Northwest press employees to take deep pay and benefit cuts, their lawyers and consultants are asking bankruptcy court judges to approve $59 million in fees and expenses for 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 months of work. Complicated bankruptcy cases commonly generate big fees for lawyers – so it might not be surprising that, by the time the two airlines exit Chapter 11, the tab could be $276 million or more. But such bills also routinely draw criticism from employees, creditors and other parties – and with Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines Incorporated and Eagan, Minn.-based Northwest Airlines Corporation asking employees for wage concessions, legal fees are indeed an issue.

– Associated Press

IN THE COURTS

CAUSEY STAYS ON SIDELINES IN ENRON TRIAL

HOUSTON – Enron Corporation’s former chief accounting officer was bound for trial alongside company founder Kenneth Lay and former CEO Jeffrey Skilling until he cut a plea deal just weeks before jurors were chosen. Richard Causey might have been expected to testify but has remained on the sidelines ever since. Legal experts say he might be more effective as a potential witness than one who actually takes the stand – although jurors may be curious about the man whose name they’ve heard again and again. Causey won’t testify before the government rests its primary case in the fraud and conspiracy trial this week. But prosecutors can hold him in reserve to testify as a rebuttal witness after the defense teams present their case – which will feature testimony from Messrs. Lay and Skilling.

– Associated Press

ENERGY

GAS PRICES JUMP NEARLY 15 CENTS A GALLON

CAMARILLO, Calif. – Retail gas prices across the country climbed an average of nearly 15 cents in the past two weeks, according to a survey released yesterday. The weighted average price for all three grades increased to $2.52 a gallon by Friday, according to Trilby Lundberg, who publishes the semimonthly Lundberg Survey of 7,000 gas stations in the country. Gas prices are 40 cents higher than they were a year ago. Self-serve regular averaged $2.49 a gallon nationwide in the latest survey. Midgrade cost $2.59 a gallon while the price for premium was $2.69. Among stations surveyed, the lowest average price in the country for regular unleaded was in Salt Lake City, at $2.25 a gallon. The most costly was in Honolulu, where drivers paid $2.80 a gallon.

– Associated Press