Thacher Proffitt & Wood
 | |
| Headquarters | New York City |
|---|---|
| No. of offices | 5 at peak |
| No. of attorneys | 365 at peak |
| Major practice areas | General practice, Structured finance |
| Date founded | 1848 |
| Company type | Limited liability partnership |
| Dissolved | December 23, 2008, due to declining revenue and partner defections |
Thacher Proffitt & Wood LLP was an American law firm headquartered in New York City. At its peak, the firm was made up of approximately 365 attorneys with offices in New York City; Washington, D.C.; Mexico City; White Plains, New York; and Summit, New Jersey.
The firm traces its founding back to 1848, when Benjamin Franklin Butler opened a legal practice with his son, William Allen Butler, at 29 Wall Street in New York City.
Thacher Proffitt was a market leader in the mortgage-backed securities (MBS) market, and in fact was instrumental in the creation of the residential MBS and commercial MBS markets. The firm so controlled the market that the standard documentation used by mortgage traders was known as "Thacher docs" and "TP&W forms."[1] This flagship practice was adversely impacted by the downturn in the capital markets in 2008, as well as the collapse of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, first leading Thacher Proffitt to trim its headcount, and ultimately dissolve. The firm also had highly regarded real estate, litigation, corporate, tax and derivatives practices.
The firm had offices in the World Trade Center through the September 11 attacks. After a period of two years in midtown the firm returned to its downtown roots and reaffirmed its commitment to downtown when it opened its new offices in the World Financial Center. The firm used to operate offices in Mexico City and White Plains, New York. Those offices decamped to Chadbourne & Parke and Greenberg Traurig respectively.
In 2006, the firm was ranked among the top 200 by The American Lawyer.[2] (free registration required) It was also ranked among the top 80 most prestigious law firms in the nation by Vault.
On December 21, 2008, approximately 100 lawyers (including 40 partners) left Thacher Proffitt & Wood to work for Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal.[3][4] The firm announced that it would face dissolution.[5]
On December 23, 2008, the firm's management officially announced dissolution of the firm.[6]
References
- ↑ David Bario (2009-03-17). "The American Lawyer".
- ↑ "?".
- ↑ Patrick McGeehan (2008-12-22). "The New York Times". Retrieved 2009-02-25.
- ↑ Mystal, Elie (2008-12-21). "Breaking: Sonnenschein Saves 100 Thacher Proffitt Lawyers". Above the Law. Retrieved 2008-12-22.
- ↑ Weiss, Debra Cassens (2008-12-22). "Thacher Proffitt Announces Expected Dissolution". ABA Journal. American Bar Association. Retrieved 2008-12-23.
- ↑ Fortado, Lindsay (2008-12-23). "Thacher Proffitt, 160-Year-Old Law Firm, to Close". Bloomberg News. Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 2008-12-23.