First Midwest Bancorp, Inc. to Participate in 2008 Lehman Brothers Global Financial Services Conference

ITASCA, IL--(Marketwire - August 28, 2008) - First Midwest Bancorp, Inc. ("First Midwest") (NASDAQ: FMBI) today announced that it will be participating in the Lehman Brothers Global Financial Services Conference to be held in New York, New York on September 8-10, 2008. Michael L. Scudder, First Midwest's President and Chief Operating Officer, and Michael J. Kozak, First Midwest's Executive Vice President and Chief Credit Officer, will represent the company at the Conference at 4:00 PM (ET) on Monday, September 8, 2008.

The presentation will be broadcast via live and replay webcast (audio only with user controlled PowerPoint slides). Interested individuals may listen to the live webcast and view a copy of the slides by accessing http://cc.talkpoint.com/LEHM002/090808a_jw/default.asp?entity=first. For those unable to attend the live broadcast, a replay of the webcast will be available within 24 hours of the live presentation for approximately 7 days following the presentation.

First Midwest is the premier relationship-based banking franchise in the growing Chicagoland banking market. As one of the Chicago metropolitan area's largest independent bank holding companies, First Midwest provides the full range of both business and retail banking and trust and investment management services through 101 offices located in 63 communities, primarily in metropolitan Chicago. First Midwest was recently recognized by the Alfred P. Sloan Awards for Business Excellence in Workforce Flexibility in the greater Chicago Area.

Contact Information: CONTACT: Greg Gorbatenko Investor Relations (630) 875-7533 www.firstmidwest.com