A WAVE of departures in the last six months has steadily whittled down the three core practice areas of Shaw Pittman LLP’s New York office, which now faces an uncertain future.

Late last week, structured finance partners Gary Roth and David Krohn informed the Washington, D.C.-based firm’s management they were leaving its New York office to join the New York office of Atlanta’s Alston & Bird LLP, taking a number of associates with them.