Will Rudolph W. Giuliani's decision to pull back from the direct management of his consulting and law firms insulate him from questions about the firms' activities?

His presidential campaign has repeatedly faced questions about the firms' work for its clients. John G. Geer, a professor of political science at Vanderbilt and the author of ''In Defense of Negativity: Attack Ads in Presidential Campaigns'' (University of Chicago Press, 2006), said the ties to the firms would probably remain a campaign issue.

''The difficulty with the move, I suspect, is that it's still not a complete divestiture,'' Professor Geer said. ... more