Omega Advisors Inc. founder Leon Cooperman and his company are seeking a reversal of a March 20 ruling on the insider trading case brought by the SEC.

Cooperman asked a federal judge for permission to immediately appeal the ruling, which let the SEC pursue civil claims that he and his company earned about $4.1 million of profit in 2010 by trading in Atlas Pipeline Partners LC through confidential tips from an Atlas executive regarding a planned asset sale.

Cooperman, who vowed to fight the charges brought against him, said the case should be dismissed because the SEC could not show he agreed not to make trades before receiving confidential information. U.S. District Judge Juan Sanchez had decided that the SEC could pursue claims that Cooperman "misappropriated" information despite the apparent absence of a prior agreement not to trade on the tip.