Bethuel M. Webster, Frederick Sheffield, Manly Fleischmann, and two other partners.
Dissolved
1991
Webster & Sheffield, formerly Webster, Sheffield, Fleischmann, Hitchcock & Chrystie, was a major "white shoe" law firm in New York City from 1934 to 1991.[1][2][3][4] The firm concentrated on corporate and securities law, litigation, real estate, and municipal bonds.[5]
History
In 1934, Bethuel M. Webster, later President of the City Bar Association of New York, founded the law firm of Webster, Sheffield, Fleischmann, Hitchcock & Chrystie with Frederick Sheffield, which ultimately grew into Webster & Sheffield.[6][7]Manly Fleischmann was also a founding partner of the firm.[1]
John Lindsay, who in 1949 began his legal career at the law firm as an associate, became a partner at the firm in the record time of under four years.[8][9] Lindsay left the firm to run for a seat in the U. S. House of Representatives in 1958; after serving four terms in Congress and two terms as Mayor of New York City, Lindsay returned to the firm in 1974 through its dissolution in 1991 as a partner in its Public Finance Department.[2]
Eliot Cutler, who was an Independent candidate in Maine's 2010 and 2014 gubernatorial races, worked from 1980 to 1988 as an associate for Webster & Sheffield, focusing mostly on environmental and land use issues.[16] Webster became senior counsel in 1984.[6] In 1988, Webster & Sheffield had 135 lawyers.[5]
Webster & Sheffield dissolved in 1991, 57 years after it was established.[17]