HAGENS BERMAN

Date Filed: September 26, 2002
Court: U.S. District Court
Location: New York

Hagens Berman filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of purchasers of J.P. Morgan Chase & Company (JPMC) stock. The suit alleges that the company's deceptive and fraudulent off-balance sheet transactions with companies such as Enron caused stockholders to pay artificially inflated stock prices.

Since filing the suit, Steve Berman has been appointed co-lead counsel, tasked with leading the legal charge on behalf of all those seeking legal remedies from JPMC.

On September 26, 2002, Hagens Berman filed a consolidated complaint representing investors who purchased JPMC stock from November 8, 1999 through January 23, 2002.

The complaint alleges that JPMC misrepresented its financial statements and failed to disclose important factual information regarding its transactions with Enron and Enron-related entities. For example, in November of 2001, despite knowing that the company was at risk to lose more than $2.5 billion, JPMC announced that its total exposure to Enron-related loss was only $500 million, according to the complaint.

"In essence, our suit claims J.P. Morgan was selling accounting fraud packages in exchange for large fees," said Steve Berman. "Investors had no idea of the risks the company was taking."

Hagens Berman is representing the ECA and Local 134 IBEW Joint Pension Trust of Chicago as the lead plaintiff.