LipperCohen Milstein is Lead Plaintiff’s Counsel in this securities fraud putative class action which arises out of the demise of Lipper Convertibles, L.P. (“Lipper Convertibles” or “the Partnership”), a New York Limited Partnership designed to engage in convertible arbitrage, after the General Partner, Lipper Holdings, LLC, revealed in February 2002 that the assets of the Partnership had been overvalued “in the neighborhood of 40%” between 1995 and 2001. Subsequently, BDO Seidman, LLP conducted a historical revaluation of the Partnership’s assets, which determined the appropriate historical valuation of the Partnership’s portfolio holdings and that the recorded valuations of the assets had been significantly overvalued for the years 1995 through 2000. In addition, the “Independent Inquiry” conducted by the Special Counsel to the Partnership, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, concluded that the General Partner’s valuations were not “supported by any rational basis.” As a result, the Plaintiff alleges that she and the other Limited Partners who are members of the Class suffered damages (1) by paying an inflated value for their investments in the Partnership, (2) by paying excessive compensation fees to the General Partner and (3) by overpaying Limited Partners who withdrew from the Partnership during the period of overvaluation. Cohen Milstein is pursuing a putative class action in arbitration at the American Arbitration Association, Levitt et al v. Lipper Holdings, LLC, against the former General Partners of Lipper Convertibles and also a lawsuit in federal district court against the Partnership’s former outside auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Levitt v. PricewaterhouseCoopers (S.D.N.Y.). In both cases, the Plaintiff seeks certification of a class consisting of all persons who purchased or otherwise acquired a limited partnership interest in Lipper Convertibles, L.P. from January 13, 1998 through and including March 26, 2002 and who were damaged thereby. In the arbitration, Plaintiffs have fully briefed whether the action should proceed in arbitration and whether the action may be brought on behalf of a class. In the litigation against PricewaterhouseCoopers, Plaintiffs have filed a motion for class certification and are beginning discovery.
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