Thomas Roughneen

Thomas Roughneen served as an Assistant Prosecutor in Union and Essex Counties for nine years. He opened his own law practice in 2014 to serve the unique interests of military members and Veterans and served on active duty and with other law firms through the years. His general practice is in Chatham, New Jersey, where his firm conducts a wide range of civil and criminal litigation, especially for Veterans, Reservists and Active Duty of all branches. He is a New Jersey Supreme Court Certified Criminal Trial Attorney.

He enlisted in 1988 and attended Army Basic Training as a Private in the New Jersey Army National Guard. He received his commission as a Second Lieutenant in 1990 from Rutgers University Reserve Officer Training Corps. After 30 years of service, he retired as a member of the New Jersey Army National Guard with the Judge Advocate General’s Corps (JAG). He previously served in Civil Affairs and Field Artillery. He Commanded a National Guard field artillery firing battery in Morristown, NJ. Following other assignments in the field artillery, he led a team of Soldiers conducting civil-military operations in Kirkuk and the Sunni Triangle in Iraq in 2003 and 2004. He later served as defense counsel to Salim Hamdan, a Guantanamo Bay detainee, before mobilizing again as a military prosecutor at Fort Dix, followed by a tour as a Brigade Judge Advocate in Germany. His last active duty mobilization was as an adjudicator at the Physical Evaluation Board in Arlington, Virginia, where he reviewed Army Soldiers’ claims for disability retirement.

He graduated from Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies with a Masters in 2007, received his Juris Doctorate from Seton Hall University School of Law in 1995 and earned his undergraduate degree from Rutgers College in 1991. He earned a Meritorious Service Medal for his service in Germany in 2011 and two Bronze Star Medals during Operation Iraqi Freedom.