George T. Conway 3d, a New York lawyer educated at Yale, shared Mr. Marcus's low view of President Clinton. When the Jones case led to Ms. Lewinsky, Mr. Marcus and Mr. Conway searched for a new lawyer for Mrs. Tripp. Mr. Marcus and Mr. Porter helped arrange for Mrs. Tripp to take her explosive allegations to Mr. Starr.

Their efforts are only now coming into focus, as a few of their associates have begun to discuss their activities and their names appear repeatedly in the final legal bills submitted by the original Jones legal team. Messrs. Marcus, Porter and Conway did not respond to numerous requests for comment.

In their arguments before the Senate this week, the President's lawyers said that there was collusion between Mr. Starr's office, Mrs. Tripp and the lawyers for Ms. Jones in the weeks leading up to the President's deposition last January. If witnesses are called in the Senate impeachment trial, the President's lawyers may explore the issue further, several Clinton legal advisers said.

Charles G. Bakaly 3d, the spokesman for Mr. Starr, denied there was collusion between the independent counsel's office and the Jones team, including Mr. Marcus. ''There was absolutely no conspiracy between the Jones lawyers and our office,'' Mr. Bakaly said. ''Judge Starr has testified to the circumstances as to how this matter came to our attention, and the actions that we took thereafter.''

Mr. Clinton said in his grand jury testimony in August that his political enemies ''just thought they would take a wrecking ball to me and see if they could do some damage.'' That wrecking ball was wielded by Mr. Marcus and his colleagues, who managed to drive Paula Corbin Jones's allegation of sexual misconduct into the courtroom and beyond.

Three Classmates At Chicago Law School

Mr. Marcus, Mr. Porter and Mr. Rosenzweig were classmates at the University of Chicago Law School, graduating in 1986. Mr. Conway met the others through the Jones case. Some of the lawyers were also involved with the Federalist Society, a legal group that includes conservative and libertarian luminaries like Mr. Starr, Robert H. Bork and Richard Epstein, a University of Chicago law professor.

Mr. Porter was the most overtly political member of the group, having worked on the staff of Vice President Quayle and on the Bush-Quayle campaign, where he did opposition research.