Chris Hohn serves as chair of Thompson Coburn, managing the 800+ person firm and leading the firm’s executive and management committees in the execution of its strategic plan.
Chris is a litigator by trade, having represented major corporations across the country in complex, high-stakes litigation matters. Throughout his career, clients have looked to Chris to develop highly focused litigation strategies and have relied on him as a go-to resource for cases involving multiple plaintiffs, class actions, or MDL litigation.
Chris has taken a lead role in major litigation over the last decade in the ag/biotech space. For agribusiness giants like Riceland and Bayer, Chris has successfully litigated claims related to the introduction of GM crops and the disruption of the supply chain and export markets. He draws on that experience to defend clients facing individual or class action claims, and counsel them on risk management for new biotechnology or GM varieties.
Chris has significant experience representing clients in trials, arbitrations and mediations, and on appeal. He excels at creative resolution strategies as well, having successfully resolved portfolios of litigation, greatly reducing risk and expense for clients.
experience
- Served in lead counsel and coordinating defense counsel roles in major agriculture-related MDL cases across the Midwest, including those involving:
- Genetically Modified Rice
- Roundup Ready Wheat
- Dicamba Herbicides Litigation
- 303 Tractor Hydraulic Fluid
- Led a team of attorneys in helping win an 8th Circuit victory for Scottrade in securities class action. The 8th Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of plaintiff Nicholas Lewis’ class action claims on the basis that his claims were precluded by the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act (SLUSA).
- Led a team of attorneys in securing a jury verdict on behalf of the Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council (MSMC) and the Mid-America Research and Development Foundation (MRDF) in a case against a former executive who profited from suspect contracts for valuable soybean technologies. After a three-day trial, it took jurors less than 30 minutes to award MSMC a winning verdict.
- Represented one of the largest financial services companies in the country, prevailing in a unique high-stakes malicious prosecution case.
- Along with a team of attorneys, Chris tried a four-week jury trial in Arkansas state court on behalf of firm client, Riceland Foods, Inc. The trial was the culmination of years of work by the legal team that defended Riceland foods on multiple litigation fronts, including defense of multiple class action lawsuits in Arkansas, classes of farmers consolidated in an MDL in the Eastern District of Missouri, and several European Union customers suing in federal court. The Riceland legal team’s strategy reversed Riceland’s defensive position by asserting a cross-claim against a codefendant, resulting in $136.9 million jury verdict for Riceland.
Professional
- The Illinois Bar
- The Missouri Bar
Community
- Greater St. Louis, Inc.
- Governance Committee, 2024-Present
- Greater St. Louis Area Boy Scouts
- Board of Directors, 2024-Present
- Saint Louis Art Museum
- Board Member, Corporate Partners Committee, 2014-2019
- Board of Trustees, 2019-2023
- Listed in The Best Lawyers in America (by BL Rankings), 2023-2025
- Listed in Chambers USA, (by Chambers & Partners) 2013-2016
- Listed in Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers, (by Thomson Reuters) 2009-2021
- Class Action/Mass Torts
- Top 100 in Missouri & Kansas, 2012
- Top 50 in St. Louis, 2011-2012, 2017
- Bayer
- Enterprise Rent-A-Car
- Peabody Energy Corporation
- Riceland Foods, Inc.
- Missouri Soybean
- Smitty’s Supply, Inc.
My favorite activities typically combine my family and my love of the outdoors. My wife, Karrie, and I have five kids, so any opportunities where I can get them all together for some kind of adventure outside is what I relish. We recently took the whole family to Germany and enjoyed hiking in the beautiful Bavarian countryside together.