Carver Joins Passanise Firm

Thomas Carver has joined Wampler & Passanise as Of-Counsel Attorney. He brings more than 50 years of criminal defense expertise to the firm and works directly with Managing Partner Joseph S. Passanise. During his half-century in practice, Carver has represented more than 300 clients in federal cases and thousands in Missouri state courts. His experience includes federal capital defense, complex white-collar crimes, large drug conspiracies, and sex crimes. He also has extensive familiarity with criminal tax matters involving the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and state taxing authorities.

“We’re blessed to have an attorney of Tom Carver’s caliber join our legal defense team,” said Passanise. “He has been a mentor to me for more than 30 years and I’m honored that he’s joining us at the pinnacle of his career. He brings a wealth of experience and has earned the respect of his peers nationwide. Tom is an exceptional fit for our firm’s team approach to client representation. We look forward to the guidance and leadership he will bring to our practice as we continue our tradition of being one of the top criminal defense firms in the Midwest.”

Carver is the recipient of 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. Carver is committed to elevating the standards of the legal profession and is the recipient of the Bernard Edelman Tradition Award for mentoring young lawyers with an interest in criminal defense. He is a past president of the Missouri Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (MACDL) and serves on the board of the Springfield Metropolitan Bar Association (SMBA), and the SMBA Foundation.

Carver holds Martindale-Hubbell’s AV Preeminent rating, which is the organization’s highest recognition for legal competence and ethical behavior. He was named one of the thirty most powerful white-collar criminal defense lawyers in the state by Missouri Lawyers Weekly. He earned his undergraduate degree in political science from the University of Arkansas and his law degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law. Carver is admitted to practice in all Missouri Courts and has been a member of the United States Supreme Court Bar since 1993. He is also a member of the federal bars for the United States Eastern and Western Districts and the U.S. Eighth and Tenth Circuit Courts of Appeal and is admitted to practice before the United States Tax Court.

About Wampler & Passanise

Wampler & Passanise has been recognized among the region’s best criminal defense firms by Best Lawyers® for 14 years, Super Lawyers® for 16 years, and the National Trial Lawyers (NTL) Top 100 for 14 years. Managing Partner 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. Visit www.entrapped.com to learn more.