Note 9 - Commitments and Contingencies

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Text Block]

(9)           Commitments and Contingencies

(a)           Lease Commitments

The Company and its subsidiaries lease office space and office related equipment under noncancelable operating leases with various expiration dates from 2012 through 2019.

Future minimum lease payments under the operating leases for the nine months ended December 31, 2012 and in each of the years subsequent to December 31, 2012 are as follows (in thousands):

	Amount
Nine months ended December 31, 2012	$	6,197
Year ended December 31:
2013		6,633
2014		5,077
2015		3,962
2016		2,836
Thereafter		3,476
Total	$	28,181

Related rent expense was $1.5 million and $2.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2011 and 2012, respectively.

(b)           Employee Benefit Plans

The Company and its subsidiaries each sponsor a separate voluntary defined contribution pension plan under Section 401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code. The plans cover substantially all employees that meet specific age and length of service requirements. The Company and its subsidiaries have various matching and vesting arrangements within their individual plans. The Company did not record any compensation expense related to these plans for the three months ended March 31, 2011.  For the three months ended March 31, 2012, the Company recorded $98,000 in compensation expense related to these plans.

(c)           Letters of Credit

As of December 31, 2011 and March 31, 2012, the Company had $190,000 and $273,000 outstanding under letters of credit which are used to secure two of the Company’s leased office facilities.