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Wampler & Passanise

United States 2025
3
Metro Rankings
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General Information

6
Practice Areas
2
Individuals recognized in Best Lawyers
12
Client Comments
Year founded: 1973
This is the year the firm (or its earliest predecessor entity) was founded.
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Overview

Content is provided by the firm.

Wampler & Passanise provides unmatched defense for juveniles and adults 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, drugs and weapons offenses, embezzlement, white-collar crimes, and crimes involving domestic violence and burglary.

Managing Partner Joseph S. Passanise and Associate Attorney Taylon Sumners are skilled in courtroom litigation and follow a cross-functional team approach to cases, a key point of difference for the firm. The attorneys, paralegals, and investigators focus on creating a positive lifelong impact for clients—often working with medical, mental health, and probation and parole professionals to ensure positive outcomes.

Passanise is a Fellow of the American Board of Criminal Defense Lawyers (ABCDL), a member of the National College of DUI Defense, the National Trial Lawyers Criminal Defense Top 100, and was recognized in the 2023 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® for Criminal Defense: General Practice, Criminal Defense: White-Collar and DUI/DWI Defense. He was recognized by Best Lawyers in America, 2022 Ed. as Springfield Lawyer of the Year for Criminal Defense: White Collar and received the AVVO Client Choice Award. He was appointed to the Missouri Board of Tourism by Governor Mike Parson in 2020.

Sumners was recognized in the 2023 edition of Best Lawyers®: Ones to Watch in America. In 2022, she received the AVVO Client Choice Award. In 2021, she was named an Up-and-Coming Trusted Advisor by the Springfield Business Journal and appointed to the Springfield-Greene County Historic Sites Board.

The Firm overall has been recognized by Super Lawyers® for Criminal Defense in Missouri and Kansas. It was also recognized in U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers® Best Law Firms in 2022. The firm will be forever grateful for the leadership of Dee Wampler, who died in 2021 at the age of 81.

Rankings

Wampler & Passanise is metro ranked in 3 practice areas. Best Law Firms rankings are based on a rigorous evaluation process.

Read how Best Law Firms ranks firms

Metro Rankings

Springfield-MO
Tier 1 for Criminal Defense: White-Collar
Tier 1 for DUI / DWI Defense
Tier 3 for Criminal Defense: General Practice

Firm Leadership

Joseph S. Passanise
Partner

Highlighted Client Comments

All client comments represent the opinions of the people who provided them. All potential clients are urged to remember that no two cases are ever completely alike and that the result in one case does not guarantee a similar result in another case.
Criminal Defense: General Practice
Wampler and Passanise Law Office is extremely knowledgeable and professional. They take the time to explain and answer questions about everything that is going on with your case. And they explain it in clear and precise terms that you can understand. I highly recommend Wampler and Passanise Law Office.

Rankings

Regional Rankings

Springfield-MO
Tier 1 for Criminal Defense: White-Collar
Tier 1 for DUI / DWI Defense
Tier 3 for Criminal Defense: General Practice

Practice Areas

The below are areas of legal specialty volunteered by the firm and do not designate a specialty in which a Best Law Firms ranking is held.
  • Criminal Defense: General Practice
  • Criminal Defense: White-Collar
  • Drug Offenses
  • Sex Abuse
  • Vehicular Manslaughter
  • Violent and Nonviolent Crimes

Individuals Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America®

Wampler & Passanise has 2 lawyers recognized for individual performance in the 2025 edition of The Best Lawyers in America®. By receiving this Best Lawyers recognition from their peers for their professional excellence, these lawyers made Wampler & Passanise eligible for evaluation for Best Law Firms rankings. For almost two decades, Best Lawyers has awarded these singular accolades, making them the foundation of our Best Law Firms awards. Read more about our Best Lawyers process here.
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Client Comments

All client comments represent the opinions of the people who provided them. All potential clients are urged to remember that no two cases are ever completely alike and that the result in one case does not guarantee a similar result in another case.
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Awards

Awards are self-reported by firms and are not verified by the Best Law Firms rankings.
  • US. News & World Report Best Law Firms
  • Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers
  • Best Lawyers in America, 2022 Ed. Springfield Lawyer of the Year for Criminal Defense: White Collar (Passanise)

Main Location

Springfield, MO
2974 East Battlefield Road
Springfield, MO 65804
United States
417-882-9300 Get Directions

Management and Personnel

Managing Partner
Joseph S. Passanise
Associate Attorney
Taylon Sumners

Contacts

Senior Paralegal
Sarah Shewmaker 417-882-9300
Director of Marketing
John Scroggins 417-416-3446
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