Cheryl Pilate

I have a diverse and challenging practice centered around criminal law. I practice primarily in federal court, handling a variety of criminal cases from drug cases to fraud. I also represent plaintiffs in federal civil rights cases, primarily involving police abuse or wrongful conviction. In addition, I represent individuals on death row and have also litigated several cases of actual innocence, obtaining exonerations for three clients. I am most passionate about vindicating the rights of individuals under the Constitution, for both criminal defendants and civil plaintiffs. I started my legal career as a law clerk for the Honorable John R. Gibson, formerly of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. I then worked for nearly 15 years at Wyrsch Hobbs Mirakian, PC and left in June 2007 to launch a new firm with Melanie Morgan, whose primary practice is in federal criminal defense. Melanie and I are the business "generators" for our firm, and we also employ two associate attorneys as well as support staff. We purchased and renovated a building in downtown Kansas City, at Tenth and Cherry, and made choices during the building process and during our day-to-day operation that respect the environment. One of the best decisions we made was installing solar panels!