Sonette Magnus

SONETTE is a partner with Thompson Coburn LLP and represents clients across a wide spectrum of industries during pre-suit evaluation, discovery, mediation, expert witness preparation, trial preparation and, when advisable, trial. She represents lenders in receiverships, as well as chapter 11 restructurings, liquidations in DIP financing, and plan negotiations. She also represents clients in complex commercial disputes, and she counsels clients on efficiently resolving contract issues. Her experience includes representing agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology companies, consumer and industrial product companies, food product companies, department stores, home-improvement stores, sports teams and financial institutions. She also has advised and served as outside counsel to nonprofits and institutions of higher education on a range of issues, including accreditation, governance, employment matters, financial restructuring, intellectual property strategies, and the creation and enforcement of policies and procedures, including student and employee discipline.

A Toronto native raised by immigrant parents, Sonette serves as Canada’s Honorary Consul for the greater St. Louis area as part of the U.S. State Department and Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (Global Affairs Canada), an appointment with binational duties. In this role, she interacts with local businesses, chambers of commerce and government officials to identify opportunities for collaboration and trade between Canada and Missouri, particularly in the agriculture, biotech, energy and services sectors. She also is an adjunct associate professor of bankruptcy at Webster University in St. Louis, where she teaches introduction to law and international law courses, including International Criminal Law, International Legal Institutions, International Law of Women and Children, and Human Trafficking in the Netherlands.

Sonette has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America “Ones to Watch” for Commercial Litigation in St. Louis since 2021. She is an advisory board member for the Emory Bankruptcy Developments Journal, a trustee for the Federal Practice Memorial Trust for the Eastern District of Missouri, a member of the Federal Bar Association and the St. Louis Consular Corps, and an executive board member of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, through which she has helped raise $100,000 to fund the distribution of essential items to those in need. She also speaks to law students, college students and high school students about the practice of law, and she is one of three founding members of the Commercial Receivers Association, established in an effort to create a connected and organized base for state receivership administration. In addition, she has volunteered in the pro se bankruptcy clinic in St. Louis, giving guidance on bankruptcy schedules and the bankruptcy process.