Even if the accounting firm reaches settlements with the Department of Justice and plaintiffs' lawyers -- conditions that Volcker laid down four weeks ago in his offer to take control -- it's probably too late to resuscitate Andersen.

Asked whether time had run out, the former Federal Reserve chairman said in a statement: ''Four weeks ago, I said this needed to be done in a matter of days.''

Industry experts share the bleak outlook. ''A week ago, I'd have told you that Andersen could survive,'' says Allan Koltin, a leading consultant. ''But in the last 72 hours, Andersen partners have been aggressively shopping with acquirers.''

Koltin says Andersen's competitors have been signing what amount to ''option-to-buy'' agreements with individual Andersen partners. The exact terms vary, but they generally follow a pattern: A rival accounting firm agrees to pay Andersen a ''finder's fee'' in the low-six-figure range for the exclusive right to land an Andersen partner and that partner's client relationship. The rival firm must also agree to hire a certain number of Andersen support staff to service that business.

Koltin estimates that as much as 75% of Andersen's business is currently under non-binding contracts with rival firms.

''A year from today, the surviving four firms will report the best earnings in their history,'' Koltin says. ''The acquirers will in essence have a windfall. They're stealing the business.''

Last fall, Andersen partners shredded massive quantities of Enron paperwork in their Houston office before the launch of a Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry into Enron's accounting irregularities. After disclosing the document destruction in January, former Andersen CEO Joseph Berardino asked Volcker to draft a series of reforms that would restore trust in Andersen.

In March, federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment against Andersen, accusing it of obstruction of justice. Volcker quickly proposed taking over Andersen and turning it back into what it had been in its glory days: a respected auditing firm.

Volcker made his proposal March 22, when Andersen's clients were beginning to leave in droves. After Berardino resigned March 26, Andersen's U.S. managers pledged to adopt Volcker's reforms. But in the past three weeks, Andersen still hasn't been able to settle with the Justice Department or Bill Lerach, the plaintiffs' attorney representing the lead shareholder in a lawsuit against Enron and Andersen.

''It is unlikely that the Volcker remedy will prevail,'' Arthur Levitt, former chairman of the SEC, said recently in a discussion with USA TODAY editors. Levitt said Andersen's failure ''will empower the remaining four firms to continue business pretty much as usual.''

But Andersen spokesman Patrick Dorton insists that the firm is proceeding to adopt Volcker's plan. ''We are committed to building the firm of the future,'' Dorton says.

-- Greg Farrell