BALTIMORE, MD--(MARKET WIRE)--Sep 20, 2008 -- Brower Piven, A Professional Corporation announces that a class action lawsuit has been commenced in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on behalf of all persons or entities who purchased or otherwise acquired the shares of certain mutual funds offered by First Trust Portfolios L.P., including shares of the First Trust Strategic High Income Fund, First Trust Strategic High Income Fund II and First Trust Strategic High Income Fund III (collectively referred to as the "Funds") (FHI - News) (FHY - News) (FHO - News), during the period between July 26, 2005 and July 7, 2008, inclusive (the "Class Period") and on behalf of all persons or entities who purchased or otherwise acquired shares of the Funds issued in connection with the Fund's initial public offerings ("IPOs"). The complaint charges the Funds and the Funds' registrants, the Funds' adviser, First Trust Advisors L.P., the Funds' sub-advisers and certain of the Funds' officers and directors with violations under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Securities Act of 1933.

No class has yet been certified in the above action. Members of the Class will be represented by the lead plaintiff and counsel chosen by the lead plaintiff. If you wish to choose counsel to represent you and the Class, you must apply to be appointed lead plaintiff no later than November 12, 2008 and be selected by the Court. The lead plaintiff will direct the litigation and participate in important decisions including whether to accept a settlement and how much of a settlement to accept for the Class in the action. The lead plaintiff will be selected from among applicants claiming the largest loss from investment in the Company during the Class Period. You may contact Brower Piven (through hoffman@browerpiven.com or 410/332-0030) to answer any questions you may have in that regard.

The complaint alleges that during the Class Period, defendants issued materially false and misleading statements regarding the Funds' portfolios and financial results. The complaint alleges that as a result of defendants' false statements, the Funds' shares traded at artificially inflated prices during the Class Period and that, beginning in August 2007 and continuing through July 2008, the Funds began to acknowledge the deterioration in the Funds' portfolios. The complaint further alleges that these disclosures caused the price of the Funds' shares to decline. According to the complaint, the true facts which were omitted from the Registration Statements/Prospectuses or were known by the defendants but concealed from the investing public during the Class Period included that the Funds lacked effective controls and hedges to minimize the risk of loss from mortgage delinquencies which affected a large part of their portfolios; that the Funds lacked effective internal controls to ensure compliance with restrictions and limitations related to the Funds' investment portfolios and strategies; that the Funds were exposed to liquidity risk due to the illiquid nature of a large portion of the Funds' portfolios; and that that the Funds had misstated the extent of the risk from their exposure to mortgage-backed assets.

If you have suffered a net loss for all transactions in First Trust Strategic High Income Funds during the Class Period, you may obtain additional information about this lawsuit and your ability to become a lead plaintiff by contacting Brower Piven at www.browerpiven.com, by email at hoffman@browerpiven.com, by calling 410-332-0030, or at Brower Piven, A Professional Corporation, The World Trade Center-Baltimore, 401 East Pratt Street, Suite 2525, Baltimore, Maryland 21202. Attorneys at Brower Piven have combined experience litigating securities and class action cases of over 40 years. If you choose to retain counsel, you may retain Brower Piven without financial obligation or cost to you, or you may retain other counsel of your choice. You need take no action at this time to be a member of the class.

     CONTACT:
     Charles J. Piven
     Brower Piven, A Professional Corporation
     Baltimore, Maryland
     410/332-0030
     Email Contact