With an impatient tone, the judge also said, "Did it occur to anyone that a lawyer may not waive a client's privilege?"

Mr. Finnerty appeared in court to hear a reading of the charges, while Mr. Seligmann's lawyer waived his presence.

Her new lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, also waived the time limit under which the District Attorney must indict a defendant.

"But this Bosco or Bisco already has expressed enough confidence in you to have his lawyer waive a jury trial," said Remo.

When General Noriega was formally charged last week, his lawyers waived an immediate bail hearing.

The motions for an expedited review were denied because the magazine's lawyers had waived that right-something Morland and The Progressive editors discovered only from the court.

That from a man who had won case after case by claiming that lawyers waived arguments that might have saved their clients from the electric chair.

A defendant's lawyers cannot waive his right to a trial that conforms with the Constitution.

Judge Sand said he was "surprised and somewhat disappointed" at the defendants' absences, but he agreed to proceed without them after the lawyers waived their appearances.

"Many people don't know that these class-action lawyers are affirmatively waiving claims that their clients might have for the lawyers' own advantage," he said.