ATLANTA, Feb. 28, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Chitwood & Harley announces that it has filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, on behalf of purchasers of the publicly traded securities of Atmel Corporation (Nasdaq:ATML) between January 20, 2000 and July 31, 2002 (the "Class Period"), against Atmel (ATML), George Perlegos, and Donald Colvin, certain of its officers and directors. The deadline to file lead plaintiff papers, for those class members wishing to serve in this capacity, is April 8, 2003. There are certain legal requirements to serve as lead plaintiff, which we would be happy to discuss with you. Any member of the purported class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights with respect to this matter, you may contact Jennifer Morris at 1-888-873-3999 (toll-free) or by e-mail at jlm@classlaw.com. You may also contact us through our website at www.classlaw.com by clicking on Atmel. A copy of the complaint is available on our website.
The Complaint alleges that defendants violated the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 by making a series of materially false and misleading statements concerning the Atmel's financial results during the Class Period. In particular, the Complaint alleges that from April 1999 until sometime in 2001, Atmel supplied its key customer, Seagate, with computer chips that were used in the millions of disk drives that Seagate sold to the public. Unbeknownst to Seagate and the investing public, Atmel's chips were defective and caused Seagate's disk drives to fail, as outlined in a lawsuit filed by Seagate at the end of the Class Period.
In its lawsuit, Seagate alleges that it sustained millions of dollars in damages as a result of Atmel's defective computer chips, and that Seagate's damages continue to grow as the extent of the problem becomes known. During the Class Period, defendants failed to disclose the widespread problem with its computer chips, and in fact, reported record profitability and revenues. As a result of defendants' false and misleading statements, the price of Atmel securities was artificially inflated throughout the Class Period, causing plaintiff and the other members of the Class to suffer damages.
Chitwood & Harley LLP is a class action firm that concentrates its practice in representing victims of securities fraud and corporate mismanagement, as well as other complex litigation. Chitwood & Harley has been appointed lead counsel in major actions throughout the United States and has been instrumental in recovering billions of dollars on behalf of its clients. Clients and courts alike have praised the results achieved by Chitwood & Harley. Recently, the federal judge in In re BankAmerica Securities Litigation, which resulted in the highest recovery last year in a securities class action, commented favorably on counsel's performance stating: "Class members were well served by experienced attorneys who, through considerable time and effort, obtained a significant recovery for their clients," and, "(a)s the Court has remarked throughout this litigation, class counsel ... have performed at exceptionally high levels, and all parties have been exceedingly well represented."
For more information about Chitwood & Harley, please visit our website at www.classlaw.com or contact Jennifer Morris at 1-888-873-3999 (toll-free), by e-mail at jlm@classlaw.com or at 1230 Peachtree Street, Suite 2300, Atlanta, Georgia 30309.
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca