Law Firm's Defections Linked to Credit Crunch

Law firm Thacher Proffitt & Wood is said to be suffering an exodus of partners and associates, many of them from practice areas hard hit by the credit crunch.

"Ten U.S. partners and some two dozen associates have left the firm, which had had a substantial practice in the now-decimated structured-finance business," The Wall Street Journal reports, citing the National Law Journal. Profit per partner at the firm reportedly declined 22 percent last year from 2006, to slightly above $1 million, and is expected to fall further in 2008.

Among the defectors:

- Banking partner V. Gerard Comizio joined Paul Hastings in March.

- Christopher F. Graham, head of the bankruptcy practice left in April for McKenna Long & Aldridge.

- Asset management partners Steven R. Howard and Thomas M. Majewski joined Bingham McCutchen.

- Securitization partner Robert Villani joined Clifford Chance in May.

- Commercial real estate partner Robert Klausner joined Day Pitney, along with two associates.

"Thacher was so structured-finance oriented," Klausner told the paper. "And, obviously, the economy had something to do with my decision." But he also cited a "better platform" at Day Pitney.

The article also noted several defections from Thacher Proffitt practices less tied to Wall Street, including government relations, Latin America litigation and corporate law, and insurance litigation.