The Cushing MLP Total Return Fund Announces Settlement Of Class Action Lawsuit

DALLAS, May 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Cushing MLP Total Return Fund (the "Fund") (NYSE: SRV), announced today that a settlement has been reached in the securities class action lawsuit filed on February 10, 2009, by Terri Bachow as lead plaintiff against Swank Energy Income Advisers, L.P., Swank Capital, LLC, Jerry V. Swank, Mark W. Fordyce, and the Fund's outside trustees pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas.  The lawsuit relates to allegations concerning the Fund's treatment of its deferred tax asset under financial accounting standard No. 109.  Although all of the named defendants have denied any liability or responsibility for the claims made and make no admission of any wrongdoing, the Fund believes that it is in the best interests of its shareholders to settle the matter.

The settlement is contingent on court approval and provides for, among other things, dismissal of the lawsuit with prejudice, the granting of broad releases of the named defendants, the Fund and all affiliated entities and a payment to the plaintiffs by the Fund's insurance carrier of $3.6 million, which would include payment of any attorneys' fees for plaintiffs' counsel.  The Fund anticipates that the entire settlement amount will be paid by its insurers and that the Fund will not incur any further costs or liability from this settlement.  On May 17, 2010, the lead plaintiff and Defendants Jerry Swank and Mark Fordyce filed a joint motion seeking preliminary approval by the court of the settlement and approval of a form of notice to potential settlement class members.

The Cushing MLP Total Return Fund is a non-diversified, closed-end management investment company. The Fund's investment objective is to obtain a high after-tax total return from a combination of capital appreciation and current income. No assurance can be given that the Fund's investment objective will be achieved. The Fund will seek to achieve its investment objective by investing, under normal market conditions, at least 80% of its net assets, plus any borrowings for investment purposes, in MLP investments.