1

Bryan Cave

Revenue: $539.3 million

Profit: $197.2 million

Revenue per lawyer: $593,800 

Profits per partner: $703,000

Firm headcount drops by 100 attorneys after fallout from a merger and attrition, while revenue drops by 2.8 percent. But the firm’s percentage increases in revenue per lawyer and profits per partner are among the highest.

2

Shook, Hardy & Bacon

Revenue: $337.1 million

Profit: $145.7 million

Revenue per lawyer: $684,400

Profits per partner: $1.04 million

The product liability powerhouse tries more cases, adds equity partners and maintains its status as the sole MOney 20 firm with average profits per partner in seven figures. Attrition takes attorney headcount down by 10.

3

Husch Blackwell

Revenue: $279 million

Profit: $138.3 million

Revenue per lawyer: $506,400

Profits per partner: $566,000

“Sanders” drops from the name and 14 attorneys drop from the payroll. Although revenue declines 3.5 percent, revenue per lawyer only dips slightly while profits per partner is largely the same. Co-chairman Joe Conran said the firm remains “vigilant” in matching client needs to attorneys and refers to an unspecified number of people “we had to let go.”

4

Polsinelli Shughart

Revenue: $219.3 million

Profit: $106.9 million

Revenue per lawyer: $470,600

Profits per partner: $632,000

Firm sees double-digit growth in revenue, profit and profits per partner, leading all other MOney 20 firms in percentage increases. Headcount also rises. Chairman Russ Welsh credits a firm merger in 2008, more active practices and a contingency fee with helping the firm grow.

5

Thompson Coburn

Revenue: $163.1 million

Profit: $8.7 million

Revenue per lawyer: $501,800

Profits per partner: $503,000

Profit shoots up 16 percent while revenue scrapes a 2 percent gain. Transactional work increases in second half of year. Litigation and major St. Louis real estate deals also buoyed the firm, Chairman Tom Minogue said.

6

Stinson Morrison Hecker

Revenue: $144.2 million

Profit: $75.6 million

Revenue per lawyer: $511,800

Profits per partner: $529,000

Revenue dips slightly, but profit, profits per partner and revenue per lawyer rise as firm cuts expenses and headcount drops by 3.5 percent. Managing partner Mark Hinderks said the firm became more efficient.

7

Lathrop & Gage

Revenue: $122.6 million

Profit: $49.8 million

Revenue per lawyer: $440,900

Profits per partner: $425,200

Profits per partner and revenue per lawyer increase by greater percentages than profit and revenue. The firm, which had six fewer full-time equivalent attorneys in 2010, seals combination with a 21-lawyer Denver firm in 2011.

8

Armstrong Teasdale

Revenue: $101.1 million

Profit: $50.4 million

Revenue per lawyer: $449,300

Profits per partner: $492,000

Contingency fees have pushed the firm over the $100 million revenue mark in previous years, but the firm’s crossover in 2010 was due to natural growth, said Managing Partner Michael Chivell. Full-time equivalent headcount and revenue per lawyer remain flat as profits per partner rises slightly.

9

Lewis, Rice & Fingersh

Revenue: $80.3 million

Profit: $53.4 million

Revenue per lawyer: $535,300

Profits per partner: $513,000

Revenue, profit, revenue per lawyer and profits per partner all raise by double digit percentages, mostly thanks to a contingency fee. Transactional business gets stronger, said firm chairman Jack Pruellage. Firm has eight fewer full-time equivalent attorneys. 

10

SNR Denton US*

Revenue: $67.3 million

Profit: $26.9 million

Revenue per lawyer: $740,000

Profits per partner: $826,700

Chicago-founded Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal seals deal on partnership with United Kingdom firm to create SNR Denton. New York and London house the largest offices. In Missouri, attorney headcount drops by 12 full-time equivalents and revenue follows.

11

Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale

Revenue: $54.4 million

Profit: $23.7 million

Revenue per lawyer: $380,100

Profits per partner: $401,000

Firm’s win in class action lawsuit against Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District splashes across the headlines. The contingency fee comes too late to boost the 2010 bottom line, but profit still floats up 9 percent.

12

Spencer Fane Britt & Browne

Revenue: $44.6 million

Profit: $19.9 million

Revenue per lawyer: $413,000

Profits per partner: $301,500

A few attorneys make quiet involuntary exits, and attrition contributes to headcount loss. Kansas City firm’s Omaha office prepares to close its doors.  

13

Brown & James

Revenue: $30 million

Profit: $13.5 million

Revenue per lawyer: $272,700

Profits per partner: $380,000

Revenue remains mostly flat while the firm increases its attorney headcount. Demand for insurance defense work and other litigation activity pushes firm to continue to bump up its associate class size in a year when many firms cut back on associate hiring.

14

Baker Sterchi Cowden & Rice

Revenue: $26 million

Profit: $11.7 million

Revenue per lawyer: $356,500

Profits per partner: $740,000

Litigation-focused firm has five fewer full-time equivalents in 2010 but keeps hiring. Baker Sterchi continued to tackle class action lawsuits in Fifth Amendment takings cases. Profits per partner figure remains one of the strongest.

15

Gilmore & Bell

Revenue: $24.2 million

Profit: $9.7 million

Revenue per lawyer: $493,900

Profits per partner: $350,000

An end-of-the-year expiration date for a stimulus-created bond program creates a flurry of work for municipal bond lawyers, leading to a record year for public finance. In 2010, Gilmore serves as bond counsel on more bond issues than any other law firm in the U.S. Revenue rises by 7.6 percent, revenue per lawyer rises by nearly 10 percent and Gilmore & Bell hops two rungs up the ranking.

16

Gallop, Johnson & Neuman

Revenue: $24 million

Profit: $8.6 million

Revenue per lawyer: $328,700

Profits per partner: $280,000

Firm that leans toward transactional work switches up litigation practice and its leadership. Business bankruptcy practice added in 2011. Profits per partner and revenue per lawyer nudge up. 

17

Sandberg Phoenix & von Gontard

Revenue: $23.7 million

Profit: $9.3 million

Revenue per lawyer: $311,700

Profits per partner: $318,500

More litigation and transactional work spurs eight-attorney growth, and St. Louis-based firm shows no sign of stopping in 2011. Sandberg Phoenix opens an O’Fallon, Ill., office and mulls a Kansas City presence.

18

Evans & Dixon

Revenue: $16.1 million

Profit: $6.3 million

Revenue per lawyer: $215,000

Profits per partner: $220,000

Mainstay workers’ compensation practice falters, but headcount soars as Evans & Dixon continues its drive to diversify into more lucrative practice areas.

19

Lashly & Baer

Revenue: $13.1 million

Profit: $5.5 million

Revenue per lawyer: $252,500

Profits per partner: $220,000

Profit rises more dramatically than revenue falls. Firm leads landmark case by hospitals against tobacco companies that finally lands in front of a St. Louis jury in 2011.

20

Carmody MacDonald

Revenue: $12.6 million

Profit: $5.7 million

Revenue per lawyer: $370,600

Profits per partner: $400,000

Litigation-heavy firm sticks to its MOney slot despite stiff competition and first full fiscal year without revenue from nine medical malpractice attorneys who departed in 2009. Carmody MacDonald’s revenue per lawyer is near the head of the class for MOney firms around its size.