Five Thompson Coburn attorneys were among the 100 selected by Missouri Lawyers Media for its Top 100 Power List 2025. Each year, the publication reviews hundreds of Power profiles published over the past 12 months to identify the most influential attorneys across Missouri and neighboring metro areas.
Below are the Thompson Coburn attorneys recognized, along with excerpts from their profiles:
Bill Bay, Partner
Business Defense category: “Bill Bay is an experienced trial lawyer who has represented major corporations in high-stakes litigation for more than 30 years. He was elected president of the American Bar Association for the 2024-2025 term after more than 20 years in various roles in both the ABA and Missouri legal organizations. Notably, he co-chaired statewide commissions focused on increasing access and opportunities for women attorneys, achieving equal access to justice for litigants, and supporting the Supreme Court of Missouri’s Commission on Racial and Ethnic Fairness.”
Evan Goldfarb, Partner
Healthcare Law category: “As a member of Thompson Coburn’s management and executive committees and co-chair of the firm’s corporate department, Even Raskas Goldfarb advises hospitals, health systems and other institutions. Her many accomplishments include serving as lead counsel to a large nonprofit health system to acquire 22 traditional and specialty retail pharmacies and as lead outside counsel to a regional acute care not-for-profit hospital and its affiliates to develop a joint venture involving an impatient rehabilitation hospital in Illinois.”
Steve Gorin, Partner
Tax & Estate Planning category: “Steve is a certified public accountant and focuses his practice on trust and estate planning, tax and business planning. Steve has developed comprehensive expertise in the interaction between income tax and estate planning for business owners. He led the strategy for removing a company valued at $3 billion from the estate tax system, which is now worth $20 billion. Steve serves as chair of the Business Planning Committee for the American College of Trust & Estate Counsel and previously held leadership roles with the ABA Section on Real Property, Trust & Estate Law and the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis.”
Michele Kloeppel, Partner
Mergers & Acquisitions category: “As co-chair of Thompson Coburn’s corporate and securities practice group, Michele’s work covers a broad spectrum of business sectors, including a public company that acquired three information technology businesses in the U.S. and South Asia, using cash and corporate stock valued between $5 million to $35 million. She also represented a digital consultancy in its acquisition of a California-based health care software engineering firm with offshore Romanian operations in a $52 million transaction.”
Booker T. Shaw, Partner
Appellate Law category: “A former judge on the Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District, Booker Shaw brings his experience to bear on important cases including participating on a task force in 2016 to reform the state’s municipal courts. This year, Booker received one of the Missouri Lawyers Media Lawyers Awards for his contributions to defending client Stanley Fastening Systems after a jury found the company liable for injuries a worker incurred while using an industrial stapler. His team won a new trial for his client after arguing before the Eastern District panel of the Missouri Court of Appeals, saving Stanley $7.7 million in damages.”
