Carissa Thompson

Carissa Thompson is an Associate Attorney at Mazie Slater Katz & Freeman, where she focuses her practice on personal injury and medical malpractice litigation.

Carissa earned her J.D. from Regent University School of Law in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where she was a member of the Honors Program and received the Dean’s Academic Merit Scholarship. During law school, she held multiple leadership roles, including serving on the Executive Board of the Trial Advocacy Program and acting as the Founding Vice President of Patent for the Intellectual Property and Entertainment Law Society. She gained valuable experience through internships with Daiichi Sankyo and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Following her training in trial advocacy by the Honorable Glen A. Huff of the Virginia Court of Appeals, she distinguished herself in two national trial advocacy competitions, placing in the Top 5 in the country at both.

Before pursuing a legal career, Carissa earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Pennsylvania State University and worked as a Registered Nurse in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). In that role, she provided high-risk delivery support and neonatal resuscitation and managed the care of critically ill newborns of 22 weeks gestation or greater. She also conducted evidence-based research on incubator humidification and its relationship to microbial growth in infants under 1,000 grams, which contributed to new clinical protocols and nursing interventions aimed at reducing neonatal infections.

Carissa’s background as a NICU nurse brings a unique and invaluable perspective to her legal practice. Her clinical training enables her to analyze medical records and complex healthcare issues with insight and precision. She is deeply committed to advocating for her clients—just as she once did for her patients— by offering compassionate, informed representation in every case.

Outside the office, Carissa enjoys spending time with her family and friends and walking her golden retriever, Nittany.