Legal fee reimbursement for companies who win court cases against federal regulatory agencies begins October 1. The Equal Access to Justice Act provides that businesses with fewer than 500 employees and a net worth of $5 million or less can recover their legal expenses unless the agency shows its position was "substantially justified." In the draft model rules recommended to the agencies by the Administrative Conference, however, the words "substantially justified" were interpreted as "reasonable." Some small business advocates are afraid this widens the loophole for the agencies, but the Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy is "generally satisfied" with the reules. "We would prefer the statutory language," says Jere Glover, of the Office of Advocacy," and we're working to get the regulation changed."