Attorney Dee Wampler views law as his calling

“He is the go-to person when it comes to criminal cases – just one of the top criminal lawyers,” Kardon said. “He is an unbelievable detail person when it comes to working for his clients.”

Kardon said the award criteria are relatively simple, considering charitable and community works and the attorney’s impact on the field and on clients.

“The honor becomes a very personal thing,” Kardon said.

Wampler has always had a keen interest in improving his community.

“My goal from the time that I was about 4 years old was to be either a prosecuting attorney or an FBI agent,” Wampler said. “When I was a small child I had a scrapbook of the 10 most wanted men – they used to publish them in the newspaper – so I would clip the articles and put them in this scrapbook. I used to walk around early Springfield with it comparing the pictures to people in restaurants to see if I could catch one of the 10 most wanted men.”

Wampler, whose father also was an attorney, has had an extensive career. After getting his law license in 1965, Wampler spent the late 1960s and early 1970s working as an assistant prosecutor and then was elected to serve a term as Greene County prosecuting attorney.

Before deciding to go into practice with his father – the two practiced together for 10 years – Wampler entertained several other options, including a run for Congress.

Going into practice with his father marked a significant change for Wampler, not only in the general direction of his career, but also in the types of cases to which he was drawn.

“Since about 1980 we have specialized only in the defense of criminal cases. I specialize only in the defense of major felony cases. I am probably one of the few attorneys in Springfield that limits their practice solely to these cases,” he said.

While on the surface this appears to be a drastic departure from Wampler’s childhood aspirations, Wampler asserts that is not the case. In his role as a criminal defense attorney, he said, he is just as able to make a positive impact on the community.

“Once you have been on one side it’s pretty easy to go to the other because the law is the same. You just have to change your attitude a little bit. When you are a prosecuting attorney you want to send everybody to jail,” Wampler said. “As a defense attorney, you have to be a bit more compassionate toward your clients, a little bit more forgiving.”

But Wampler, a Southern Baptist, said that his work is his calling.

“As an attorney at law I am also a counselor. Most everybody that comes to me will be punished; they will go to jail. But one day they will get out of jail, and the question is, ‘Are they going to go back to the same kind of life, or are they going to bring about some meaningful change?’

Wampler said that even as a defense attorney, he’s on the front lines of fighting crime.

“I reflect with people on what they did wrong. A lot of times it’s my job just to get my client to look in the mirror,” he said.

Wampler uses his faith as a tool to encourage change in his clients. “I think that being a Christian means that you don’t just go to church on Sundays. You have to walk the walk and talk the talk seven days a week. I have an opportunity to help (my clients) by sharing my faith ... and getting them through their problems,” he said. “I get sex offenders, I get child molesters, I get alcoholics and drug users. These people come to me for answers as to how to change their lives and be more effective members of their community.”

While Wampler acknowledges the gravity of his clients’ crimes, he is entirely comfortable in his role in the Springfield community.

“Even friends sometimes will say to me ‘How can you defend that person? They’re obviously guilty.’ There are many people out there who think if you are charged with a crime then you are guilty of that crime. But everybody has to have a lawyer. Everybody has to have someone who will speak for them,” Wampler said. “A lot of my cases are very lonely, where I am the only person in the community who stands there with this person as they are accused of these heinous crimes. Even though the rest of the community is screaming for their head, I have to be standing there saying, ‘Well, wait a minute. This person is presumed innocent. Let’s wait and see what the evidence is.’”

Wampler said that every Christmas he receives between 30 and 50 cards from former clients thanking him for the change he made in their lives.

But his clients aren’t the only people Wampler has helped guide during his career. Joe Passanise, a junior partner with Wampler’s firm, began working for Wampler when he was a law student in 1989.

“I started working for him as a runner, picking up his dry cleaning and raking the leaves and getting his car washed. One thing he always told me was that in order to really learn what we do I have to learn everything about it, from filing the letters to going out and investigating the scenes to interviewing witnesses. You have to really be involved in all aspects of the cases if you are going to do your job well,” Passanise said.

Passanise was recently elected president of the Missouri Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He said that the 400-member organization seeks to enhance the role of the criminal lawyer and to serve as a legislative presence. For this accolade – as well as for his success as an attorney – Passanise credits his wife, his family, his faith and Wampler, his mentor.

Passanise said that Wampler has made a habit of employing students who plan to attend law school, and many of his former employees are attorneys in the area.

“I think we have a responsibility to mentor and teach young lawyers because in law school they don’t teach you how to be a lawyer. They teach you the laws, but they don’t tell you how to practice law or how to run an office or deal with a client,” Passanise said. “Even after all of these years, not a day goes by that I don’t learn something from him.”

[[In-content Ad]]