Top Law Firms 2025: Thompson Coburn

Most Equitably Structured Large Firm

At most of Missouri’s largest law firms, the number of equity partners is a small fraction of the total number of attorneys. At Thompson Coburn, that fraction is larger than most.

The St. Louis-based firm has more than 350 attorneys, but according to Missouri Lawyers Media’s 2022 MOney section, 141 of those lawyers were equity partners, giving it a leverage ratio of 2.52.

In comparison, other multi-office firms with 300 or more lawyers had ratios of more than three attorneys per equity partner. The average among the nine current MOney firms with $100 million or more in revenue is about 4.9; the highest leverage figure was at Polsinelli, which had nearly 12 lawyers per equity partner.

That relatively flat structure has proved to be profitable. Thompson Coburn had $234.1 million in revenue in 2021, according to the MOney report. Profit rose 13.6 percent to $130.2 million, and profit per equity partner rose 9.6 percent to $708,600. In the latest edition of MOney showing 2024’s profit margins, the firm made $286,000,000 in gross revenue for the year.

Thompson Coburn has two offices in the St. Louis area, as well as in Chicago, New York, Washington, D.C., Dallas and Los Angeles.