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equally convinced that the Thompson and Cravens settlements
neither prevented Mr. Izen from fully and fairly presenting his
clients' cases to the Court nor resulted in any reduction in the
effectiveness of his presentation on their behalves. There is no
indication in the record that the Thompson and Cravens
settlements affected Mr. Izen's trial preparation or trial
strategy, or his trial tactics or presentation. Although Mr.
Thompson's testimony at the trial of the test cases that Mr.
Kersting had orally assured him that his promissory notes would
be canceled in exchange for the return of Kersting stock may have
surprised Mr. Izen, the record reveals that Mr. Izen was well
aware that respondent intended to rely on the so-called comfort
letters to establish the same point. Mr. Izen's strategy--
conceived before the trial of the test cases and continuing
through the evidentiary hearing--was to rebut the comfort letters
with evidence that Kersting corporations had initiated collection
litigation against Kersting program participants who failed to
make loan payments. In addition to developing the testimony of
the test case petitioners that he represented, Mr. Izen cross-
examined Messrs. Thompson, Cravens, and Alexander during the
trial of the test cases. Considering all the facts and
circumstances, we are convinced that the misconduct of Messrs.
Sims and McWade in connection with the Thompson and Cravens
settlements and the Alexander understanding did not alter the
basic framework within which the trial of the test cases was
conducted. We are convinced that the trial of the test cases
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