Thomas H. Prol

Thomas H. Prol, a Member of Sills Cummis & Gross, concentrates his practice on environmental, land use, commercial property tax appeals, and related litigation and administrative law matters. He is admitted to practice law in New Jersey and New York and before numerous federal courts.

Mr. Prol is a Past President of the New Jersey State Bar Association (2016-2017) and was the first openly gay leader in the Association’s history. He is a member of the American Bar Association House of Delegates, and is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, an honor bestowed on less than one percent of the attorneys in each jurisdiction.

Throughout his legal career, Mr. Prol has been a vocal advocate on issues of equality and access to justice. He worked to advance marriage equality and LGBT rights in New Jersey, and was an advocate for, and successfully argued the defense of both the New Jersey Criminal Justice Reform Act and the New Jersey Anti-Bullying Act. Mr. Prol is also a founding member and serves in the executive leadership of Garden State Equality, the leading New Jersey LGBT civil rights organization. He previously served as vice chair of the National Lesbian and Gay Law Association (now known as the National LGBT Bar Association) and on the board of the LGBT Bar Association of Greater New York.

Mr. Prol has appeared and has authored/co-authored numerous briefs over the past decade 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 frequent lecturer for the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education (“NJICLE”).

Mr. Prol is an adjunct professor at Seton Hall University School of Law, and previously taught legal writing and appellate advocacy at New York Law School. He also served as 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 (EDNY), the New York City Commission on Human Rights, CNN and The Carter Presidential Center.