In a petition filed late last week on behalf of Andersen, attorneys Rusty Hardin and Andy Ramzel asked the Texas 14th Court of Appeals to halt the case and to order state District Judge Terry Flenniken in Washington County to add a number of financial institutions to the case.

Houston lawyers Sean Jez and George Fleming, representing investors who bought stock after former Enron Chairman Ken Lay touted it to the Brenham Chamber of Commerce, made a strategic decision to file the lawsuit against only a few individuals to keep it manageable and get it to trial quickly.

The defendants have tried repeatedly to get the case stopped, moved to federal court or broadened. Flenniken, who said it would be inappropriate for him to comment on this appeal, has generally treated the maneuvers as stall tactics.

Andersen is asking that some of the institutions and individuals that plaintiffs claim are co-conspirators in the fraud and negligence be included in the Brenham lawsuit.

But it is asking an appellate court to rule midstream in the case in what is called a writ of mandamus, something appellate judges do not do lightly.

Andersen wants to add entities, including financial institutions Barclays, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Merrill Lynch, Bank of America, Lehman Bros., CIBC and CSFB. It says Flenniken abused his discretion when he refused to allow the other parties to be added to the current case, although the judge did allow a case that would be tried later with some of the additional parties.

Jez and Fleming, on behalf of their Brenham shareholders, sued only Andersen, Lay, former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling, former Enron CFO Andrew Fastow and a few former Andersen executives, including David Duncan.

Because it increases their leverage and the chance of getting money in the lawsuit, Jez and Fleming want to go to trial as soon as possible. The judge has set it for Sept. 29, even though there's been no discovery or pre-trial work.

Jez said that just because the plaintiffs have alleged a conspiracy involving more entities than they are suing, they don't have to add everyone in the lawsuit.

Andersen argued the opposite, saying it has a right to have one trial that includes all potential parties, so that if there is blame to be laid, it will be proportioned properly.

-- Mary Flood, The Houston Chronicle