Fixed Assets

As of December 31, 2011 and 2010, fixed assets consisted of the following:



	As of December 31,
	2011			2010
	(dollars in thousands)
Telephone and computer equipment	$	12,828		$	8,576
Computer software	5,419			4,831
Furniture and fixtures	5,997			4,630
Leasehold improvements	30,264			25,271
Assets acquired under capital leases—equipment	6,337			6,337
Construction in progress	—			4,650
Other	49			60
	60,894			54,355
Less: Accumulated depreciation and amortization	(23,852		)	(17,764		)
	$	37,042		$	36,591

Depreciation and amortization expense related to fixed assets was $7.4 million, $5.7 million and $4.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010, and 2009, respectively and are included in depreciation and amortization expense in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations.

During the fourth quarter of 2011, the Company committed to vacate the Whitehall leased property as part of the discontinued operations and accordingly accelerated depreciation and amortization of the leasehold improvements and related fixed assets for the total amount of $8.7 million. Of this amount, $7.4 million was directly attributable to discontinued operations since this location was used for the former LaBranche business (see Note 4) and was recorded within net income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of taxes in the consolidation statement of operations for the twelve months ended December 31, 2011. The remaining $1.3 million was indirectly attributable to discontinued operations and therefore recorded within depreciation and amortization expense in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations.

Assets acquired under capital leases were $6.3 million as of December 31, 2011 and 2010. If the assets acquired under capital leases transfer title at the end of the lease term or contain a bargain purchase option, the assets are amortized over their estimated useful lives; otherwise, the assets are amortized over the respective lease term. The depreciation of assets capitalized under capital leases is included in depreciation and amortization expenses and was $0.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2011. For the year ended December 31, 2010 no depreciation was recorded because the assets were not in service until August 2011.

As of December 31, 2010, construction in progress consisted primarily of leasehold improvement costs related to additional space acquired at 599 Lexington Avenue office. The construction of leasehold improvements was completed in January 2011 and the Company began depreciating these costs at that time.

For the year ended December 31, 2010, the Company recorded accelerated depreciation of $2.2 million related to leasehold improvements for a portion of office space located at 1221 Avenue of Americas. This amount is included in depreciation and amortization expense in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations. See Note 19 to the Company's consolidated financial statements for further discussion.