Photo by Morgan Lea PhotographyJoseph S. Passanise, Managing Partner | Taylon Sumners-Schwartz, Associate Attorney
The team at Wampler & Passanise is proud to celebrate 50 years of providing clients with the highest quality legal representation possible. Managing Partner Joseph S. Passanise and Associate Attorney Taylon Sumners-Schwartz lead our firm. They use a team approach to managing our clients’ cases, employing a team of paralegals, investigators, and researchers as they develop defense strategies for clients who face criminal allegations at the federal, state, and municipal levels.
We believe that surrounding our clients with a team of experienced professionals who believe in them reinforces their power to make meaningful life changes. We defend clients who face the most serious and complex charges, including white-collar embezzlement and fraud, federal cases, felony and misdemeanor DWI, homicide, domestic violence, and weapons and drug violations.
Wampler & Passanise is recognized by some of the leading authorities in the legal profession, many of them for decades. We have been named among the region’s best criminal defense firms by Best Lawyers® for 14 years, Super Lawyers® for 16 years, AVVO, the National Trial Lawyers (NTL) Top 100 for 14 years, and the NTL Top 40 Under 40.
Joe Passanise has practiced for over 25 years and is an American Board of Criminal Lawyers Fellow. He received the Charles M. Shaw Award for excellence in Trial Advocacy in 2013 and is a former President of the Missouri Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Missouri Lawyers recognized him for his exceptional firm leadership in 2023, and he is a sustaining member of the National College for DUI Defense.
Sumners-Schwartz was recognized by Best Lawyers® Ones to Watch for the past two years and in the Up-and-Coming category by Missouri Lawyers in 2022. She serves on the Greene County Historical Sites board and Go Red for Women.
2974 E. Battlefield Rd., Springfield | 417-882-9300 | entrapped.com
