AFTER evaluating three Italian law firms, Panama has hired Hogan Lovells Studio Legale, to represent the State in civil and criminal cases conducted in Italy and involving the company Selex / Finmeccanica.

The Foreign Ministry reported that the contract will be capped at 250,000 Euros, which at today's rate is $323,000.
"This means that (the contract) may cost less" a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry told La Prensa.
The name of former President Ricardo Martinelli has surfaced in reports of the investigation of the central figures awaiting trial, but he will not be attending the events in Rome and Naples. Finmeccanica executives are accused of bribery in connection with deals made with the former administration.

One was the contraversial $250 million purchase of helicopters and radar sites. The radars, intended for dectecting small craft carring drugs, were found not to work and the contact was canceled in July by President Juan Carlos Varela.