Wampler & Passanise

Wampler & Passanise is a criminal defense firm representing adults and juveniles facing serious criminal allegations at the federal, state, and municipal court levels. The firm has an experienced team of legal professionals with decades of combined experience, providing clients with winning defense strategies for the most serious criminal charges, including homicide; gun, drug, and weapons offenses; domestic violence; burglary; and embezzlement and other white-collar crimes.

Managing Partner Joseph S. Passanise and Of Counsel Thomas Carver are skilled in courtroom litigation and follow a cross-functional team approach to criminal defense cases, a key point of difference for the firm. The attorneys, paralegals, and investigators collaborate to review cases and develop the strongest criminal defense strategies. The firm focuses on creating positive lifelong impacts for clients, often working with medical, mental health, and probation and parole professionals to strengthen positive outcomes.

Criminal Defense Attorney Joseph S. Passanise has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America for 17 years. He was also named by Best Lawyers in America in 2021 Ed. as Springfield Lawyer of the Year for Criminal Defense: General Practice and in 2022 Ed. as Springfield Lawyer of the Year for Criminal Defense: White Collar. Passanise is a Fellow of the American Board of Criminal Defense Lawyers, a prestigious and rigorously vetted legal organization.

The firm's Of Counsel, Defense Attorney Thomas Carver, received the Robert Duncan Award for Appellate Excellence from the Missouri Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (MACDL) and has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America and Super Lawyers in Missouri and Kansas for more than a decade. He has been selected by his peers as Best Lawyers Attorney of the Year on five different occasions for white-collar criminal defense. He serves on the board of the Springfield Metropolitan Bar Association (SMBA), and the SMBA Foundation.

Wampler & Passanise has been recognized among the region’s best criminal defense firms by Best Lawyers® for 14 years, Super Lawyers® for 16 years, Martindale-AVVO, and the National Trial Lawyers (NTL) Top 100 for 14 years.