P.
("Prentice"), Holtzman Opportunity Fund, L. (Pink Sheets: JWLR) in the United States District Court for
the Southern District of New York seeking injunctive relief arising from
certain securities law violations, among other things.50 per share, a significant
premium to market ."
Newcastle Partners, through its whole-owned subsidiary, commenced a cash
tender offer to purchase all of the outstanding shares of Whitehall on
December 5, 2005. On January 4, 2006, Newcastle announced that it was
increasing its offer price to $1. Stockholders can obtain the Offer to Purchase and related
materials free at the SEC's website at http://www. SUCH PROXY
MATERIALS ARE AVAILABLE AT NO CHARGE ON THE SEC'S WEB SITE AT
HTTP://WWW.SEC. REQUESTS
FOR COPIES SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO THE PARTICIPANTS' PROXY SOLICITOR, MACKENZIE
PARTNERS, INC.

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P.

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The Complaint further alleges that Whitehall has violated federal proxy
laws by failing to disclose the activities of Prentice and Holtzman in support
of the proposals submitted by Whitehall management for consideration at the
Special Meeting of Shareholders.,
NEWCASTLE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, L.P.C, JWL
ACQUISITION CORP .
CFAL specifically called for hearings on H. These
provisions are much more balanced and workable than a number of provisions in
the Miller-Watt proposal.

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The Board of Whitehall has tilted the playing field, the
Complaint asserts, by invoking Whitehall's "poison pill" against Newcastle,
while waiving this protective device against Prentice. The Complaint further
alleges that a majority vote at the Special Meeting is not sufficient to
approve the reverse stock split proposed by Whitehall management .P., MARK E. SCHWARZ, STEVEN J.
* To the extent that some state laws are more restrictive, they often
tend to limit borrowers' credit availability and raise the cost of
credit to many of them.

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Whitehall's waiver of
the poison pill is effectively permitting Prentice to purchase control, with
selected shareholders receiving a control premium. The
Complaint seeks a declaration that, under Whitehall's charter, approval by 75%
of the outstanding shares is required. and JWL Acquisition Corp. (the "Company") relating to a pending financing transaction between the
Company and investment funds managed by Prentice Capital Management, L. Bob Ney (R-OH) and Paul Kanjorski (D-PA), and H.

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Under Newcastle's
offer Whitehall shareholders would receive $1.gov, from MacKenzie Partners,
the Information Agent for the offer, or from Newcastle Partners, L., NEWCASTLE CAPITAL GROUP, L. CFAL also urged that all parties engaged in this
public policy provide constructive comments and suggestions so that the issues
surrounding these federal bills can be fully and fairly debated and discussed. Brad Miller (D-NC)
and Mel Watt (D-NC). CFAL does not
want this to occur, and I am sure the sponsors didn 't intend this harmful
result, but that in fact would be the unintended consequence of these Miller -
Watt provisions.

CFAL wants abusive lending practices stopped and remains committed to
trying to work openly and fairly with consumer advocacy, civil rights, and
other groups to help Congress craft the best bill possible.

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The solicitation and the offer to buy Whitehall Jewellers , Inc.

NEWCASTLE ADVISES ALL STOCKHOLDERS OF THE COMPANY TO READ THE PROXY
STATEMENT AND OTHER PROXY MATERIALS RELATING TO THE SPECIAL MEETING AS THEY
BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION.

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P. and
Holtzman Opportunity Fund, L.GOV. 1295, the "Responsible
Lending Act," a bipartisan compromise bill to stop abusive mortgage lending
introduced by Reps.

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COM.

csn misrepresentation

's common
stock is only made pursuant to the Offer to Purchase and related materials
that Newcastle Partners , L. See
the further discussion on this issue in the CFAL paper that explains the
impacts of key provisions in both bills at: http://www.

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Whitehall
shareholders will lose the opportunity to accept a premium offer and be left
with a pink sheet investment of questionable value with no significant
protections from majority holder Prentice whose economic interests have an
inherent conflict with all minority investors Newcastle was compelled to
file its Complaint to prevent further securities laws violations and to
preserve the right of all of Whitehall's shareholders to fairly choose between
the Newcastle offer or the other alternative. IN ADDITION, THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE SOLICITATION WILL
PROVIDE COPIES OF THE PROXY MATERIALS, WITHOUT CHARGE, UPON REQUEST.

CFAL Calls for Hearings + Releases Analysis of 'Anti-Predatory Lending' Bills

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Among other things, the
Complaint alleges that Prentice and Holtzman have been secretly acquiring a
control block of shares, without disclosing their plans and purchases, in
violation of Section 13(d) and Section 14(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934.

CERTAIN INFORMATION CONCERNING PARTICIPANTS
Newcastle Partners, L .
* The Ney-Kanjorski bill contains dozens of provisions that would
effectively protect borrowers from predatory lending practices, and
most are as strong as, or stronger than those available in the vast
majority of states. CFAL hopes that
all these groups and other interested parties will work constructively to
achieve this goal.

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DALLAS, Newcastle Partners, L.P.P., AT ITS TOLL-FREE NUMBER: (800) 322-2885 OR BY E-MAIL AT:
PROXY@MACKENZIEPARTNERS. They already find mortgage credit more
difficult to obtain and less affordable as they have to pay higher rates to
offset their higher risks.

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Newcastle's Complaint alleges that Whitehall, Prentice and Holtzman have
engaged in a series of violations of the federal securities laws, including
violations of tender offer rules and regulations. COLEMAN (THE "PARTICIPANTS").

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Stockholders should read the Offer to Purchase and related materials carefully
because they contain important information, including the terms and conditions
of the offer.P."
CFAL also today released a white paper rebutting many of the misleading
claims that have been made against the Ney-Kanjorski bill.

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announced today
that it had commenced an action against Prentice Capital Management, L.
Mark Schwarz , the managing member of Newcastle Partners, stated: "We
believe that the Newcastle tender offer provides Whitehall's shareholders with
a clearly superior alternative to the Prentice transaction. WASHINGTON , The Coalition for Fair and Affordable
Lending (CFAL) today called on the House Financial Services Committee to
schedule hearings promptly on pending federal bills intended to stop so-called
"predatory " mortgage lending."
Andrews also noted, "The Miller-Watt bill provisions would have a
disproportionately negative effect on many African-American and Hispanic
consumers."
Steve Nadon, CFAL's Chairman and Chief Operating Officer of Option One
Mortgage, commented, "The Ney-Kanjorski bill, which is more comprehensive and
balanced, would provide much needed uniform national standards so that all
borrowers, regardless of where they live or who their lender is, would have
the same strong, effective protections against abusive lending practices, and
it would do so without dramatically cutting back on mortgage affordability.

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The Complaint also alleges that Whitehall has violated Delaware corporate
law by favoring Prentice and Holtzman in the auction now underway for control
of Whitehall.sec .
THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE PROXY SOLICITATION ARE NEWCASTLE PARTNERS, L. It's time to have hearings to bring out the true
facts so that Members of Congress, their staff, public advocacy groups, and
most importantly, consumers can get an understanding of the issues and the
proposed solutions to them.

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According to the Complaint, Prentice and Holtzman have engaged in a de
facto tender offer , under which a select group of shareholders are being
offered a substantial premium to market prices as a coercive device to
pressure them to tendering their shares. It is clear to us that shareholders could suffer badly if
the Prentice financing is approved in this manipulative manner.P. MURRAY, MARK A.fairlendingnow.

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P.50 per share, extending the termination date
of the offer to 5:00 pm, New York City time on Friday, January 27, 2006 and
eliminating or amending a number of conditions to the offer so that Newcastle
believes that the majority of the remaining conditions are now in the control
of the Board of Directors of Whitehall. This will only further disadvantage minority
borrowers. Higher percentages of these minority groups are economically
disadvantaged when compared to Whites, and therefore are more likely to
present higher credit risk profiles. Among other things,
CFAL's paper highlighted that:

* Contrary to the misimpression being given by opponents, only about half
of the states even have special anti-predatory lending laws, and of
those that do , most of their substantive protection provisions are
either weaker or no stronger than Ney -Kanjorski provisions.

vigilance roofers

("Newcastle"), together with the other
Participants (as defined below), has made a definitive filing with the SEC of
a proxy statement (the "Definitive Proxy Statement") and accompanying proxy
card to be used to solicit votes against proposals of Whitehall Jewellers,
Inc . INFORMATION REGARDING THE
PARTICIPANTS AND THEIR DIRECT OR INDIRECT INTERESTS IS AVAILABLE IN THE
SCHEDULE 13D JOINTLY FILED WITH THE SEC ON APRIL 19, 2005, AS SUBSEQUENTLY
AMENDED ON JULY 7, 2005, OCTOBER 27, 2005, NOVEMBER 30, 2005, DECEMBER 5,
2005, DECEMBER 14, 2005, DECEMBER 29, 2005 AND JANUARY 5, 2006 AND THE
DEFINITIVE PROXY STATEMENT. 1192,
the "Prohibit Predatory Lending Act," introduced by Reps.

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and for the election of its slate of director
nominees at a special meeting of stockholders scheduled for January 19, 2006
(the "Special Meeting").
* Furthermore, this bipartisan bill offers far more comprehensive
protections than any other federal or state anti-predatory lending law
or legislative proposal.

(1) There are well-recognized , substantial disparities in the economic
characteristics of the African American, Hispanic and White populations.org.

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R.R.

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PULLY, JOHN P."
Andrews added, "While there are good provisions in the Miller -Watt bill,
it also has other fundamentally flawed sections that would significantly raise
borrowers ' interest rates, making mortgage loans far less affordable and less
available for many borrowers .(1) By forcing rates even higher, the Miller-Watt
bill would be devastating for many of these minority borrowers.

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("Holtzman") and Whitehall
Jewellers, Inc. filed on December 5,
2005, as amended December 22, 2005, January 4, 2006 and January 5, 2006.
FORMAN AND CLINTON J.
Wright Andrews, CFAL 's Executive Director, stated: "While some refinements
are needed, CFAL believes the Ney-Kanjorski legislation for the most part
offers very effective and very comprehensive borrower safeguards.

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Newcastle Partners Commences Litigation Against Prentice Capital Management Holtzman Opportunity Fund and Whitehall Jewellers Seeking Injunctive Relief Arisin

L.

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