Attorney Profiles — Carl M. Ward

Carl M. Ward Jeremy D. Hollingshead Phillip A. Franklin

Biography of Carl M. Ward

Carl M. Ward was born in 1957. In 1981, he received his undergraduate degree from the University of Missouri, where he graduated with the school's highest honors (Summa Cum Laude). In 1984, he graduated from St. Louis University School of Law, where he received his J.D. degree. He was admitted to the Missouri Bar that year, and has been an attorney in private practice since that time. Carl devotes nearly all of his time representing citizens accused of driving while intoxicated.

Mr. Ward is a regular speaker at Missouri DWI defense training seminars, and has chaired or moderated the state's largest DWI defense programs for attorneys since 1997. He has lectured to more than 2000 private defense attorneys, judges, prosecuting attorneys, public defenders, police officers and court clerks, and has attended numerous DWI defense programs around the country. Carl is well known for his innovative and aggressive defense of his clients.

Carl has been certified as a field sobriety testing instructor through a NHTSA/IACP approved training program. He traveled to Mansfield, Ohio, where he received advanced factory training as a maintenance supervisor on the BAC Datamaster, the primary breath testing machine used in Missouri. He is an owner of a BAC Datamaster, several Intoxilyzer 5000s, and a portable breath test ("PBT") device.

Carl has represented well over a thousand drivers accused of drunk driving in over 190 municipal, county and state courts across Missouri. He has argued DWI related issues before the Eastern, Western, and Southern District Courts of Appeals as well as the Missouri Supreme Court. He has been quoted in the St. Louis Daily Record, St. Louis Post Dispatch, Columbia Tribune, the Missourian and Missouri Lawyers Weekly. Mr. Ward's case, Brown v. Director of Revenue, 85 S.W.3d 1 (Mo. 2002), made the Missouri Lawyers Weekly's list of Top Cases for 2002. There, the Missouri Supreme Court held, in part, that a trial court judge may disregard the results of improperly administered field sobriety tests when determining whether or not a police officer has probable cause to arrest a motorist for driving while intoxicated, an issue in every administrative license suspension or revocation case in Missouri.

Mr. Ward is a member of the National College for DUI Defense, the California DUI Defenders, the Missouri Bar Association, and the Missouri Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, where he is on the Board of Directors. As a result of an extensive and confidential peer review by attorneys and judges from around the state, he has been awarded an "AV" rating of excellence in Martindale-Hubbell. His hobbies include Civil War history and reenactment, genealogy, and attending winged sprint and stock car racing events with his father. His favorite racetracks are I-55 Speedway in Pevely, Missouri, and Bristol Motor Speedway. His favorite drivers are Steve Kinser and Tony Stewart.

Special Honors and Recognition

In July of 2006, Carl Ward was presented with the prestigious "Robert Duncan Award of Appellate Excellence" by the Missouri Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (MACDL). In the Spring of 2007, he was elected to serve as a member of the Board of Directors of the same organization. In 2009, MACDL recognized his tireless efforts to mentor younger lawyers in the area of DWI defense when he was presented with the Bernard Edelman Mentor Award, named for Carl's good friend and mentor.

Carl was chosen by his peers for inclusion in the 2008 edition of The Best Lawyers in America © in the area of DUI/DWI Defense. He was also selected to Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers© in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. Most recently, he was awarded an AV® Preeminent Rating from Martindale-Hubbell, an honor that is reserved for those that have been recognized by their peers to be the best in both legal ability and ethical practice.

Carl Ward's Important Missouri Supreme Court and Missouri Court of Appeals Cases

Some of Mr. Ward's Other Court of Appeals and Supreme Court Battles

Carl Ward's Professional Speaking Engagements

Police Training Courses Taught

Carl has represented clients in the following cities and counties