Thacher Proffitt Dissolves; Sonnenschein Rescues 100 [Update]

Chicago’s Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal has announced it will hire 100 lawyers (NYT says 40) away from New York CIty’s Thacher Proffitt & Wood.

Bailout talks with King & Spalding have collapsed, and Thacher Proffitt will dissolve today.

Founded in 1848, Thacher Proffitt’s clients included many of the biggest banks and investment banks, including Citigroup and UBS. In 2006, the firm was ranked among the top 200 by The American Lawyer. But It was one of the leading firms behind the creation of the sort of mortgage-backed securities that fueled the lending spree that has since backfired on the banks.

We will update this post as the situation evolves.

Via Above the Law and NYT.

UPDATE:

Confirmed by Law.com:

Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal announced late Sunday that 100 lawyers, including 40 partners, from Thacher Proffitt & Wood will be joining the firm’s New York office, effective January 1. The hires increase Sonnenschein’s total headcount to about 800 lawyers, nearly doubling the size of its New York office…

Sonnenschein is drawing from all of Thacher’s existing practices, including structured finance (representing the largest number of additions, with 26 partners and of counsel), corporate, banking, real estate, regulatory and litigation.

• Many Thacher Refugees Still Looking for Work
• Thacher Proffitt Is No More; Fourth Biglaw Collapse This Year
• Rumor: King & Spalding to Acquire Most Thacher Proffitt counsel [Update]
• Morning Roundup
• Sonnenschein Posts Higher Revenue

Posted by Erik Even on December 22, 2008. Filed under Law Firm News,Layoffs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry