Thacher Proffitt & Wood Abandons White Plains

Something is going on over at Thacher Proffitt & Wood.

This summer, the firm had to deny a rumor of possible dissolution. The word is that the firm took an especially tough beating when the bottom fell out of the housing and credit markets. In September, just a week after Lehman Brothers collapsed, we reported that Thacher Proffitt was looking for a white knight to save them (King & Spalding).

Today brings word that Thacher Protfitt abruptly closed their office in White Plains, New York. The firm declined to comment on the closing, but this picture was on the door of the firm’s (former) White Plains office (thumbnail image; click to enlarge):

A tipster reports:

Presently, there are no attorneys or support staff anywhere in the office — just boxes, empty ones being filled, and filled ones being shipped out.

Update: Back in April, we passed along a rumor that the White Plains office would be closing. The firm denied this, but the closing has now come to pass.

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Where did all the cowboys go? After the jump.


It appears that a couple of the TPW White Plains partners found a safe landing ground at Greenberg Traurig. According to a Friday press release from Greenberg:

As part of an overall strategy to respond to client needs as they change in today’s economic climate, the international law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP, with a one-of-a-kind U.S. platform and key global locations, has announced the addition of two key shareholders and the opening of a new office in White Plains, New York….

Thomas M. Leslie and Thomas J. Infurna, two long-time partners of Thacher Proffitt & Wood, have joined the firm. Mr. Leslie leaves his position as Thacher Proffitt’s Vice Chairman and Managing Partner of that firm’s White Plains office. He will become the managing shareholder of Greenberg Traurig’s White Plains’ office.

But what about associates and staff? And, more generally, what is going on at Thacher Proffitt?

Update / Correction: As noted in the Greenberg Traurig press release, three of counsel and three associates also made the jump from TPW to GT.

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Greenberg Traurig Responds to Market Changes and Client Needs With Key Additions and New Office [Greenberg Traurig]

Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of Thacher Proffitt & Wood