Founders

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Staff and Credentials

ACD currently consists of three fully-trained and licensed attorneys: Thomas Harvey, Michael-John Voss, and John McAnnar, since 2009. During this time, the three have become experts on many of the issues that face the indigent and the elderly populations of St. Louis — from minor criminal offenses, to landlord-tenant law, to family law issues. In recognition for their services to the St. Louis indigent population, ACD received the 2011 Saint Louis University School of Law Excellence in Pro Bono award in the innovator category.

Thomas Harvey

Since graduation in 2009, Thomas has co-founded the ArchCity Defenders, Inc., begun his own private practice, and passed the bar in Missouri and California. Thomas was selected as a member of Focus St. Louis's Leadership St. Louis Class of 2010 based on his work at ACD. Thomas also regularly guest moderated a free flowing conversation on race and class in St. Louis as part of his work relationship with the St. Louis Beacon.

As Executive Director of the ACD, Thomas is primarily responsible for board recruitment and raising awareness of the organization in addition to direct representation in various matters. Thomas was instrumental in identifying and recruiting all eight members of the current board. He also meets regularly with community leaders in business and law to identify and possibly add to the existing Board of Directors.

As part of his efforts to raise awareness for the ACD, Thomas recently presented a paper at the plenary session for the Association of American Law Schools' annual conference in Washington, DC on the future of legal education. In November, Thomas was invited to participate in the New Southern Strategy Conference in Atlanta, GA. Representatives from fifteen southern states worked on issues related to collateral consequences and criminal histories. The purpose of the gathering was to create an opportunity for groups that assist clients who have a criminal history or advocate and organize for legislative reform in this area to meet each other and share best practices.

Thomas also traveled to Montgomery, Alabama and Atlanta, Georgia with co-founder Michael-John Voss to meet with representatives from the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Southern Center for Human rights. There, Thomas and Michael-John discussed strategies for impact litigation on behalf of the indigent in St. Louis. They also gathered information on fundraising, direct representation, and board recruitment and structures for non-profits.

Thomas has represented hundreds of clients since beginning practice in 2009, ranging from simple traffic tickets to felonies and everything in between. Thomas has seen the obstacles the elderly, the poor, and minorities face in the area courts and strives every day to make that experience less problematic. The courts are simply not designed to accommodate these groups. In his representation, Thomas ensures that the court treats his client as a human being by getting to know his clients. This approach not only makes the attorney-client experience more pleasant but also helps Thomas to get the best result for his client. All too often, the Courts treat clients as one of many, without regard to the difficulties they face getting to court and paying exorbitant fines.

John McAnnar

Since 2009, John has served hundreds of clients in Missouri and Illinois. His practice at ACD focuses on municipal ordinance violations and landlord-tenant issues. John was instrumental in isolating Constitutional violations evident in Missouri's criminal non-support statute and drafting a writ of prohibition to challenge the statute. After catching wind of ACD's challenge to the crime, Missouri's General Assembly amended the law to fix the problems highlighted by ACD's writ papers.

While earning his law degree, John worked with the Saint Louis University School of Law's clinic, the school's Public Interest Law Group, and clerked for Armstrong Teasdale, a large firm in St. Louis. While attending law school, John's interest in serving the community developed further as he litigated a number of consumer protection and landlord/tenant cases. He negotiated several settlements on behalf of his clients. Since law school, John has tried civil and criminal cases to judgment on behalf of his clients. He has also argued on multiple occasions in the Missouri Court of Appeals. He is currently a member of Carmody MacDonald's Litigation group where he focuses on contracts, commercial, tort and employment law.

John received his bachelor's degree in History and Philosophy of Science and English Writing from the University of Pittsburgh where he graduated cum laude. In law school, he served as a Managing Editor of the Saint Louis University Law Journal, was elected by the faculty to join the Order of the Woolsack (awarded to top 10% of graduating students), was elected into the Alpha Sigma Nu Jesuit Honor Society for scholarship, leadership, and service, was a member of two national trial advocacy teams, and received the academic excellence award for the highest grade in a number of subjects including criminal law, constitutional law, and real estate law — three topics that are at the center of the ACD mission. He was appointed as an inaugural member of Mayor Francis Slay's Vanguard Cabinet.

Michael-John Voss

Michael-John Voss graduated from Saint Louis University School of Law in 2009. Michael-John has a longstanding commitment to public service. He volunteered with Legal Services of Eastern Louisiana in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and with the Public Interest Law Group at Saint Louis University. He worked as a clerk in the Housing Rights Division of Legal Services of Eastern Missouri and with the Litigation Division of the Missouri Attorney General's St. Louis Office. He is currently an associate attorney at Reinert Weishaar & Associates, P.C. handling complex surety and fidelity cases, intellectual property disputes, and also focuses on estate and personal planning.

Working for ACD, Michael-John has handled hundreds of cases for the indigent in the St. Louis area. He was instrumental in developing a strategy whereby the indigent are given their Constitutionally-mandated indigency hearings to determine their ability to pay a fine before it is assessed — a procedure that had long been dormant in Missouri's municipal courts. Utilizing this strategy, he has helped several clients avoid the crippling system that does not take into account their economic and family circumstances.

Prior to Law School, Michael-John received two Bachelor's Degrees, cum laude, and a Masters in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois. He has studied Taiwan and China. He worked for several years as a Reference Librarian at Chicago Public Library. Through his experiences with different cultures and groups of people, he appreciates diversity in viewpoints and looks at issues from multiple perspectives. With a background in the arts he also serves as a pro bono attorney with Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts.

Interns and Staff

In addition to the three licensed attorneys, ACD has between three and five law student interns — usually in their second or third year of law school. These interns provide vital paralegal, secretarial, and legal work under the supervision of the licensed attorneys.