Thomas Crocco

Thomas was born and raised in Pennsylvania in the heart of steel country. Iin 1969 He obtained a degree in electronics and came to St. Louis to work for Western Electric in the engineering department. Thomas put his engineering career on hold and joined the US Army, serving three years with NATO in Europe. After returning from the Army, Thomas spent the next 30 years in the telecommunications industry designing and supervising the construction of digital microwave and cellular networks for major telecom carriers. Thomas also spent several years in AT&T's International division, developing high-speed digital networks in Saudi Arabia, Brunei, Africa, Central America, and Poland. Thomas earned a Master's degree in business management and served as a Director in Lucent Technologies' wireless business unit.

The practice of law is a second career for Thomas who says, "It is never too late to be what you were meant to be." After a long career in the telecommunications industry, Thomas decided to go to law school in 2000. He earned his J.D. from the St. Louis University School of Law in 2004, passing the bar in the same year. Thomas began his legal career as an assistant public defender in Franklin County in 2004, and in 2011, he was appointed the District Defender for Lincoln and Pike Counties. Thomas left the Public Defender System in 2017 to go into private practice, first in Troy then in St. Peters.

Thomas has contributed to the legal profession at large by writing for the Missouri Bar CLE program and teaching advanced legal topics at state-wide training seminars. He served as a committee chair with the Missouri Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and lead the development of an extensive practice aid available to MACDL members.

Thomas was recognized by his peers in the Public Defender System as the 2017 Defender of Distinction, the highest honor that can be bestowed in the State of Missouri by the Public Defender System. The Defender of Distinction award recognized his dedication and skill in the defense of persons accused of a crime. Since transitioning to private practice, Thomas has been awarded a "10 Best Attorney" accolade in 2018 for client satisfaction, and a Top 10 Criminal Defense Attorney award in 2019.

Thomas now focuses his practice in the areas of family law and civil litigation. When he is not in Court or at the office, you might find him at the airport flying his vintage 1946 Ercoupe airplane.