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Thomas H. ProlMember

Newark, NJ
(973) 643-5059

Thomas H. Prol practices business and litigation strategy with a focus on environmental, land use, and redevelopment law at Sills Cummis & Gross P.C. He is admitted in New Jersey and New York and before numerous federal courts. Mr. Prol is a member of the American Bar Association House of Delegates, a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, a Life Fellow of the National Conference of Bar Presidents, and a trustee of the Monmouth Bar Association. On June 14, 2023, Governor Phil Murphy appointed Mr. Prol as Chair of the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC), the state’s “fiscal watchdog” agency that oversees election financing integrity in the Garden State.

Mr. Prol is a Past President of the New Jersey State Bar Association (“NJSBA”), serving as NJSBA’s first openly gay leader in 2016-2017. Holding Juris Doctorate and Master of Public Health degrees, in March 2020, the NJSBA called him back to service to oversee its Pandemic Task Force, leading the effort to fashion a roadmap to address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the legal profession.

Throughout his legal career, Mr. Prol has been a vocal advocate on issues of equity and access to justice. He co-drafted New Jersey’s “Marriage Equality” legislation which revised the State’s marriage law to provide equality for all committed couples, regardless of gender, and was signed into law by Governor Murphy on January 10, 2022. As a founding and current executive board member of Garden State Equality, New Jersey’s largest LGBTQ education and advocacy organization, Mr. Prol has championed marriage equality and civil rights for over two decades. He previously served as vice chair of the National Lesbian and Gay Law Association (now the National LGBT Bar Association) and director of the LGBT Bar Association of Greater New York in 1999-2000. He was an advocate for and argued the defense of the New Jersey Criminal Justice Reform Act and the New Jersey Anti-Bullying Act.   Read More...

Mr. Prol has appeared and has authored/co-authored numerous briefs over the past two decades before the New Jersey Supreme and Superior Courts, New Jersey Council on Local Mandates, and the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals. He is a lecturer for the N.J. Institute for Continuing Legal Education and Practising Law Institute, and an expert in parliamentary procedure.

Mr. Prol is General Counsel to the Municipal Clerks’ Association of New Jersey and Special Environmental Counsel to the Sussex County Municipal Utilities Authority. He previously served as an adjunct professor at Seton Hall University School of Law where he taught Constitutional issues related to gender and sexual orientation, and at New York Law School where he taught legal writing and appellate advocacy. Mr. Prol was Associate General Counsel and Agency Chief Contracting Officer for New York City’s Department of Consumer Affairs. Prior to practicing law, Mr. Prol was an environmental scientist and enforcement officer for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and served two years as a volunteer in the U.S. Peace Corps in Nepal. Mr. Prol has also held externships with the U.S. Attorney’s Office (E.D.N.Y.), the New York City Commission on Human Rights, CNN and The Carter Presidential Center.   Read Less

Thomas H. Prol practices business and litigation strategy with a focus on environmental, land use, and redevelopment law at Sills Cummis & Gross P.C. He is admitted in New Jersey and New York and before numerous federal courts. Mr. Prol is a member of the American Bar Association House of Delegates, a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, a Life Fellow of the National Conference of Bar Presidents, and a trustee of the Monmouth Bar Association. On June 14, 2023, Governor Phil Murphy appointed Mr. Prol as Chair of the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC), the state’s “fiscal watchdog” agency that oversees election financing integrity in the Garden State.

Mr. Prol is a Past President of the New Jersey State Bar Association (“NJSBA”), serving as NJSBA’s first openly gay leader in 2016-2017. Holding Juris Doctorate and Master of Public Health degrees, in March 2020, the NJSBA called him back to service to oversee its Pandemic Task Force, leading the effort to fashion a roadmap to address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the legal profession.

Throughout his legal career, Mr. Prol has been a vocal advocate on issues of equity and access to justice. He co-drafted New Jersey’s “Marriage Equality” legislation which revised the State’s marriage law to provide equality for all committed couples, regardless of gender, and was signed into law by Governor Murphy on January 10, 2022. As a founding and current executive board member of Garden State Equality, New Jersey’s largest LGBTQ education and advocacy organization, Mr. Prol has championed marriage equality and civil rights for over two decades. He previously served as vice chair of the National Lesbian and Gay Law Association (now the National LGBT Bar Association) and director of the LGBT Bar Association of Greater New York in 1999-2000. He was an advocate for and argued the defense of the New Jersey Criminal Justice Reform Act and the New Jersey Anti-Bullying Act.

Mr. Prol has appeared and has authored/co-authored numerous briefs over the past two decades before the New Jersey Supreme and Superior Courts, New Jersey Council on Local Mandates, and the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals. He is a lecturer for the N.J. Institute for Continuing Legal Education and Practising Law Institute, and an expert in parliamentary procedure.

Mr. Prol is General Counsel to the Municipal Clerks’ Association of New Jersey and Special Environmental Counsel to the Sussex County Municipal Utilities Authority. He previously served as an adjunct professor at Seton Hall University School of Law where he taught Constitutional issues related to gender and sexual orientation, and at New York Law School where he taught legal writing and appellate advocacy. Mr. Prol was Associate General Counsel and Agency Chief Contracting Officer for New York City’s Department of Consumer Affairs. Prior to practicing law, Mr. Prol was an environmental scientist and enforcement officer for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and served two years as a volunteer in the U.S. Peace Corps in Nepal. Mr. Prol has also held externships with the U.S. Attorney’s Office (E.D.N.Y.), the New York City Commission on Human Rights, CNN and The Carter Presidential Center.

Practices

  • Environmental
  • Real Estate
  • Litigation

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Court Admissions

  • U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit
  • U.S. Supreme Court

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Presentations

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Publications

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Rankings and Recognition

  • Selected for inclusion in:
  • Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business®* 2023, New Jersey Environment
  • The Best Lawyers in America®* 2021-2024, Environmental Law; Litigation - Environmental; Real Estate Law
  • New Jersey Super Lawyers®* 2012, 2014-2019, 2021-2024, Environmental; Business Litigation; Land Use/Zoning; Business/Corporate
  • New Jersey Super Lawyers®* "Rising Stars" 2011, Environmental; Government Contracts; General Litigation
  • ROI-NJ* "ROI Influencers: Diversity & Inclusion" 2021-2022
  • ROI-NJ* "ROI Influencers: Leading Figures in New Jersey’s LGBTQ+ Community" 2023
  • ROI-NJ* "ROI Influencers: Power List" 2023-2024
  • NJBIZ®* "Leaders in Law" 2021
  • New Jersey Law Journal®* "Attorney of the Year" Finalist 2017
  • New Jersey Law Journal®* "Diverse Attorneys of the Year" 2015
  • New Jersey Law Journal®* "40 Under 40" 2006
  • Received Amicus Curiae Award from the New Jersey State Bar Association in 2010, 2012, 2014-2017 and 2023.
  • Received Advocacy Award from the New Jersey State Bar Association in 2023.
  • Included in the Insider NJ "Insider OUT 100: LGBT Power List" in 2018-2023.
  • Received Mel Narol Award from the New Jersey State Bar Association in 2018 for leadership and advocacy by spearheading inclusion and making strides for women and minority lawyers.
  • Received Professional Lawyer of the Year Award, as selected by the New Jersey Commission of Professionalism in the Law and the Sussex County Bar Association, in 2018.
  • Received Young Lawyer of the Year Award from the New Jersey State Bar Association in 2004.

* See Award Methodology. No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.

Affiliations

  • Life Fellow, American Bar Foundation

  • Member, American Bar Association

    –    Member, House of Delegates
    –    Member, Coalition on Racial and Ethnic Justice Board
    –    Member, Environmental Law Section
    –    Commissioner, Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

  • Member, New Jersey State Bar Association

    –    President (2016-2017)
    –    President-elect (2015-2016)
    –    First Vice President (2014 -2015)
    –    Second Vice President (2013-2014)
    –    Treasurer (2013)
    –    Trustee (2007-2012)
    –    Chair, Pandemic Task Force (2020)
    –    Member, Finance and Operations Committees (2007-present)
    –    Member, Amicus Committee (2008-present)
    –    Co-Chair, Legislative Committee (2020-present)
    –    Member, Legislative Committee (2007-2013)
    –    Member, Membership and Public Relations Committee (2009-2013)

  • Trustee, Monmouth Bar Association

    –    Chair, Diversity Committee

  • Life Fellow, National Conference of Bar Presidents

  • Former Trustee, New Jersey State Bar Foundation

  • Member, New Jersey Supreme Court Board on Mandatory CLE

  • Member, New Jersey Supreme Court Ad Hoc Committee on Law Firm Trade Names

  • Chair, New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, appointed by Governor Phil Murphy

  • Attorney Mentor, New Jersey Law and Education Empowerment Project (NJ LEEP)

  • Member, NAIOP NJ

Education

  • J.D., New York Law School
  • M.P.H., Emory University
  • B.A., Emory University

Bar Admissions

  • New Jersey
  • New York