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SIGNATURE JOSEPH VAN DYKE
TITLE ASSISTANT TREASURER
<PAGE>
Board of Directors
Lord Abbett Developing Growth Fund, Inc.:
In planning and performing our audit of the financial statements of Lord Abbett
Developing Growth Fund, Inc. (the "Fund") for the year ended January 31, 1998
(on which we have issued our report dated February 25, 1998), we considered its
internal control, including control activities for safeguarding securities, in
order to determine our auditing procedures for the purpose of expressing our
opinion on the financial statements and to comply with the requirements of Form
N-SAR, and not to provide assurance on the Fund's internal control.
The management of the Fund is responsible for establishing and maintaining an
internal control. In fulfilling this responsibility, estimates and judgments by
management are required to assess the expected benefits and related costs of
controls. Generally, controls that are relevant to an audit pertain to the
entity's objective of preparing financial statements for external purposes that
are fairly presented in conformity with generally accepted accounting
principles. Those controls include the safeguarding of assets against
unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition.
Because of inherent limitations in any internal control, errors or fraud may
occur and not be detected. Also, projection of any evaluation of the structure
to future periods is subject to the risk that it may become inadequate because
of changes in conditions or that the effectiveness of the design and operation
may deteriorate.
Our consideration of the Fund's internal control would not necessarily disclose
all matters in internal control that might be material weaknesses under
standards established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
A material weakness is a condition in which the design or operation of the
specific internal control components does not reduce to a relatively low level
the risk that errors or fraud in amounts that would be material in relation to
the financial statements being audited may occur and not be detected within a
timely period by employees in the normal course of performing their assigned
functions. However, we noted no matters involving the Fund's internal control
and its operation, including controls for safeguarding securities, that we
consider to be material weaknesses as defined above as of January 31, 1998.
This report is intended solely for the information and use of management, the
Board of Directors of Lord Abbett Developing Growth Fund, Inc. and the
Securities and Exchange Commission.
February 25, 1998
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