Sills Cummis & Gross welcomes Prol as new member

Newark-based law firm Sills Cummis & Gross announced Thursday it has a new member: Thomas H. Prol.

Prol will concentrate his practice in environment, land use and related ligation and administrative law matters.

Prol previously served as president of the New Jersey State Bar Association and is the first openly gay president in the association’s 118-year history, Sills said. During his tenure, he spearheaded efforts to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, promoted diversity and inclusion in the law field, and expanded access to justice.

Prol is also a founding member of and on the executive committee of Garden State Equality, a New Jersey-based LGBT civil rights organization. He previously served as vice chair of the National Lesbian and Gay Law Association and on the board of the LGBT Bar Association of Greater New York.

“We are pleased that Tom has joined us – he is a quality lawyer and quality person,” Max Crane, managing partner, Sills Cummis, said. “Since its founding, Sills Cummis has always been involved at the intersection of law, business, and public policy. Tom’s arrival only strengthens this aspect of the firm.”

Prol also serves on the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association and is a fellow of the American Bar Foundation.

“I am pleased to join Sills Cummis – the lawyers are top-notch across the board. Sills Cummis also allows me a larger platform – more lawyers in a wider range of practice areas. Because of the firm’s historic and current association with the business community and the world of public service, I know I will fit right in by generating business and continuing to advocate for equal justice under the law,” Prol said.

Prol had been a partner with the firm of Laddey, Clark & Ryan in Sparta. Prior to his law career, Prol was an environmental scientist and enforcement officer for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.