Laine Cardarella received her law degree from the University of Kansas in 1991. She practiced for 7 years with the Missouri State Public Defender System before joining the Federal Public Defender's office in the Western District of Missouri. After almost 16 years as an Assistant Federal Public Defender, Laine became the Federal Defender in 2014. Laine's entire legal career has been devoted to the defense of the indigent accused in state and federal criminal cases.

In addition to her duties as the Federal Defender in Western Missouri, Laine has served on the Board of the Eighth Circuit Bar Association and on a number of working groups for the Administrative Office including the Death Penalty Working Group, the Defender Services Advisory Group, and the Performance Management Working Group for which she has been co-chair since 2022.  Laine also serves on the Advisory Board for the Federal Defender Leadership Center.