The POWER List: Elaine D. Koch

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, Kansas City

With more than 30 years of experience as a litigator under her belt, Elaine Koch is a formidable opponent in the courtroom.

In one notable case, Stehno v. Sprint Spectrum, Koch defended telecommunications giant Sprint in a suit brought by a former contract employee after the company blocked him from returning to work because of his prior conflicts with coworkers. A jury ruled in favor of Sprint, but the judge later granted the worker a new trial. The case went to the Missouri Supreme Court in 2006, which found for Sprint.

Koch is a partner in Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner’s Kansas City office, where she’s worked since 2003. She formerly led the firm’s global labor and employment law group for eight years. Prior to joining Bryan Cave, she worked for what was then Spencer Fane Britt & Browne.

In addition to her labor and employment law practice, Koch has held national leadership positions in the American Bar Association’s labor and employment section, and she is a regular speaker at the ABA’s national meetings. She is also a fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers and a 2015 recipient of Missouri Lawyers Media’s Women’s Justice Award in the category of litigation practitioner.

She earned her law degree from Columbia University in 1984.