As Associate General Counsel and Senior Director of Risk Management for Thompson Coburn, Joyce Pratt serves as the point person for risk management and conflicts of interest questions for attorneys across all of the firm’s offices.

She works closely with the firm’s general counsel to identify and resolve potential or actual conflicts of interest with current and former clients, as well as researching and counseling on legal ethics and professional responsibility issues.

Joyce manages the Risk Management (previously Loss Prevention) team responsible for identifying and resolving conflicts of interest that arise with new business and lateral hires, drafting engagement letters and conflict waivers, coordinating file transfers, reviewing outside counsel guidelines, creating ethical wall, and reviewing marketing materials and attorney publications for compliance with the Rules of Professional Conduct in all jurisdictions in which the firm operates. Joyce also manages the Client Intake team which is responsible for accurately and efficiently opening all new business files and maintaining the firm’s conflicts database. Joyce oversees the Library Services team which manages the firm’s extensive print and electronic collections of legal resources, and conducts new client research and competitive intelligence and information to support the firm’s business development and marketing efforts.

A former Thompson Coburn labor and employment attorney, Joyce advised employers on a wide range of matters and vigorously defended them in state and federal courts across the country. Prior to entering the legal profession, she provided medical social work services in hospital, home health and hospice settings in communities as diverse as south Texas, rural Hawaii and southern Maryland.

  • Saint Louis University School of Law, J.D., 2005
    • Health Law Certificate
  • Saint Louis University School of Social Service, B.S.S.W., summa cum laude, 1987

Admissions

Bar Admissions

  • Illinois
  • Missouri

Court Admissions

  • U.S. District Court, Southern District, Illinois
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District, Missouri
  • U.S. District Court, Western District, Missouri

Professional

  • Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis
  • American Bar Association

Community

  • Volunteer, Legal Advocates for Abused Women
  • Volunteer, Legal Services of Eastern Missouri
  • Volunteer, Great Circle

  • Included in Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers Rising Stars list, (by Thomson Reuters) 2014-2015