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Case Status:    DISMISSED    
On or around 02/24/2010 (Court's order of dismissal)

Filing Date: September 11, 2008

Lord, Abbett & Co. LLC is an American investment management company.

According to a press release dated September 18, 2008, a class action lawsuit against Lord, Abbett & Co. LLC and Lord Abbett Distributor LLC ("Lord Abbett") on behalf of investors who received class A shares of certain multi-class Lord Abbett stock mutual funds after investing less than $50,000, and thus paid a sales charge of 5.75%. The Complaint alleges Lord Abbett violated Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 15 U.S.C. Sec. 78j(b), and Rule 10b-5, 17 C.F.R. Sec. 240.10b-5.

Specifically, the Complaint alleges Lord Abbett defrauded investors by disseminating prospectuses containing incomplete and misleading information for the following mutual funds: Affiliated Fund; All Value Fund; Developing Growth Fund; Growth Opportunities Fund; Large Cap Core Fund; Large Cap Growth Fund; Large Cap Value Fund; Mid Cap Value Fund; Small Cap Blend Fund; Small Cap Value Fund; Value Opportunities Fund; Alpha Strategy Fund; Diversified Equity Strategy Fund (formerly Income Strategy Fund); Global Allocation Fund; International Core Equity Fund; America's Value Fund; Balanced Strategy Fund; Diversified Income Strategy Fund; Growth & Income Strategy Fund (formerly World Growth & Income Strategy Fund); International Dividend Income Fund; Developing Local Markets Fund.

The Complaint asserts that Lord Abbett knowingly marketed class A shares as the best performing alternative, when class B and/or class C shares, otherwise identical, would have been the best investment choice. The misleading disclosures actually omitted information from the fund prospectuses and allowed Lord Abbett to earn greater profits at the expense of Plaintiff and class members. As a result, investors suffered considerable damages.

On December 18, 2008, the motion to appoint lead Plaintiff and approving selection of lead Counsel was granted. According to the Order, Rosemarie Zavolta was appointed lead Plaintiff and Barrack, Rodos & Bacine, Bonnett Fairbourn Friedman & Balint, P.C. and Finkelstein & Krinsk, LLP were appointed as co-lead Counsel for the class.

On April 6, 2009, the Defendants filed a motion to dismiss the Class Action Complaint. On February 24, 2010, Judge William J. Martini signed an opinion and order granting in part and denying in part the motion to dismiss. The Plaintiffs were given 30 days to file a motion to amend the Complaint. On March 29, 2010, Judge William J. Martini signed the Order dismissing the case and the action is now terminated.

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