| 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 |
| Revenue | N/A |
| Date founded | 1848 |
| Company type | Limited liability partnership |
| Dissolved | December 23, 2008, due to declining revenue and partner defections |
| Website | |
| www.tpw.com | |
Thacher Proffitt & Wood LLP was an American law firm headquartered in New York City. As of 2009 the firm was in the process of dissolving. 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 his legal practice on Wall Street in New York City with his son, William.
Thacher Proffitt was a market leader in the mortgage-backed securities market, and in fact was instrumental in the creation of the MBS and CMBS markets. 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 have since decamped to Chadbourne & Parke and Greenberg Traurig respectively.
In 2006, the firm was ranked among the top 200 by The American Lawyer.[1] (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.[2][3] The firm announced that it would face dissolution.[4]
On December 23, 2008, the firm's management officially announced dissolution of the firm.[5]