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To Avoid Dissolution, Thacher Proffitt Talks With King & Spalding
Legal Times
December 11, 2008
Atlanta-based King & Spalding is in talks to acquire most, but not all of Thacher Proffitt & Wood's lawyers, say two sources aware of the discussions. In order to avoid dissolution, New York-based Thacher hopes to find a partner to acquire it, these sources say.
One New York legal consultant says the discussions have been ongoing for the past three to four months, and that the firms hope to reach an agreement by year's end. The consultant says King & Spalding is considering taking on about 100 of Thacher's 195 lawyers, but that it's not yet clear which practices and offices the 100 lawyers would come from. "There's a tremendous amount of uncertainty about who's going to be invited to the party," says the consultant, who asked not to be named.
Thacher currently has 180 lawyers in New York, nine in Washington, and six in its Summit, N.J., office. Its overall headcount is down more than 100 lawyers compared with last year -- and so are its profits. Profits per partner fell more than 22 percent in 2007 to $1.02 million, according to the Am Law 200.
The firm has had a constant stream of high-profile departures, including its vice chairman, Thomas Leslie, who decamped for Greenberg Traurig in October, and Washington managing partner Richard Schaberg, who left for Hogan & Hartson's D.C. office last month. The New York consultant and another individual familiar with the discussions say that if the deal falls through, Thacher Proffitt will likely go under.
As the financial crisis has worsened, Thacher Proffitt has suffered. The firm relied heavily on structured finance work, and was hit hard when the mortgage-backed securities market bottomed out. The National Law Journal, a sibling publication of Legal Times, reported last summer that Thacher had conducted three rounds of associate buyouts.
Acquiring the Thacher lawyers would give King & Spalding an automatic boost in its New York headcount, which currently sits at 120 lawyers, according to the firm's Web site. King & Spalding opened its Manhattan office in 1990.
Calls to Thacher Proffitt and King & Spalding were not immediately returned.
First reported in The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times
