By christine imbs
The best piece of advice Tom Minogue ever got was from his Father.
“He told me, ‘be optimistic and keep your sense of humor,’” recalls Minogue. “And despite everything, he was very optimistic.”
During World War II, Minogue’s father was on an aircraft carrier that was hit by a Kamikaze plane. Severely burned, he almost died. He spent a year or so in the hospital, only to be told that by the time he reached his mid-30s his body would begin to deteriorate rapidly due to the trauma he went through. His Father was only 18 at the time.
“Needless to say, I’m a big supporter of taking care of our veterans,” Minogue says. “But seeing someone live through that, and watching how your family copes gives you a little more perspective on what’s important, and what’s not.”
It’s a perspective Minogue’s held throughout his 30-year career as an attorney. Named in The Best Lawyers in America® 2009, Minogue, chairman of St. Louis-based Thompson Coburn, seems more proud of his firm and its people than this accomplishment.
“Sure, it makes me feel good because it’s peer-determined,” he says. “But one of the things I’m really proud of is how well our firm has done in growing and bringing in new people.”
Over the past twelve years, Thompson Coburn has been involved in three mergers —the Thompson Mitchell and Coburn Croft merger in 1996, which created Thompson Coburn; a merger with the boutique intellectual property law firm of Howell & Haferkamp back in 2001; and its more recent merger with the Chicago firm FagelHaber.
“Nearly half of our partners have come to us from different firms over the years. So we’ve melded a lot of people with a lot of different backgrounds,” he says. “And they enjoy their careers here. My young associates rank Thompson Coburn as one of the top ten law firms to work for in the country. I take a lot of pride in that.”
Although Minogue now heads the law firm, he still gets to practice law, something he loves. Yet when he attended UMSL, the law wasn’t his chosen field. He was actually an Economics major with a Political Science minor. But after taking a few legal courses, his career path changed.
“You know, I took one of those psychological tests in college that shows what careers you’d be suited for, and I scored really high in two areas — lawyer and recreational playground supervisor. Talk about a difference. But then, I did play a lot of tennis in college, and taught it during the summer on my high school courts to earn money. Plus, I really like the movie To Kill a Mockingbird,” he says laughing. “So I guess it makes sense.”
After graduating from UMSL, Minogue attended Harvard Law School and spent a summer clerking at a Boston law firm. But a true St. Louisan, he moved back to the Gateway City, where he joined what was then called Thompson & Mitchell. He says he was probably the 50th lawyer in the firm at the time. Today, Thompson Coburn boasts over 350 lawyers, with roughly 275 in St. Louis, 25 in Washington DC, and 50 in Chicago. It’s the largest law firm in St. Louis in terms of lawyers, in the metropolitan area.
“I was impressed with the firm and just stayed,” Minogue says. “Our firm has always represented many of St. Louis’ premier businesses. I’ve been very lucky to work for a lot of the firm’s flagship clients, and I’ve been exposed to a lot of good leaders. It’s been interesting and challenging work.”
Still, Minogue says if he ever does decide to take his career in a different direction, he’s got an ace up his sleeve.
“I’ll just take door number two — be a recreational playground supervisor,” he says laughing. “But I will tell you, it’s really great to be a lawyer.”
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TalkingPOINTS
Hometown: Grew up in Lemay and later moved to Florissant
High School: Hazelwood
Family: Wife, Becky; 3 daughters; and two cats.
Education: BA from UMSL and a law degree from Harvard
Favorite Books: Historical fiction by Bernard Cromwell
Favorite Music: Nothing comes close to the Beatles.
Hobbies: Tennis
Favorite Movies: “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Forrest Gump”
Travel: We never go the same place twice. I want to see all I can, while I can.
St. Louis: It’s a great place to build a career and raise a family. |
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