Michael Roden

Michael Roden attended Harding University and graduated early in May 1980 (cum laude) with a major in political science and a minor in journalism.  He was then accepted at Memphis State University (now the University of Memphis) School of Law, where he graduated in December 1982 in the top 10% of his class and won the American Jurisprudence Award for the study of Conflicts.

Mike served as law clerk to U.S. Magistrate Judge J. David Orlansky in Greenville, Mississippi from January 1983 to May 1984, after which he came to Nashville and clerked for U.S. Magistrate Judge Kent Sandidge, III from June 1984 to August 1987.

In August 1987, Mike became a trial attorney for the Solicitor’s Office, U.S. Department of Labor in Nashville, and handled cases involving black lung benefits, mine safety, and wage and hour violations. His most prominent case during that time was a wage and hour case against the Opryland Hotel. In October 1990, he fulfilled his life-long dream of becoming an Assistant U.S. Attorney, when he accepted a position in the Civil Division, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Middle District of Tennessee, where he served continuously until his retirement on December 31, 2022.  During that time, Mike handed just about every type of federal civil litigation, with a particular emphasis on employment discrimination, torts (including medical malpractice), environmental  law, civil rights, health care fraud and financial litigation.  For the first ten years with the office, he also prosecuted federal crimes such as bank robbery and drug trafficking..

Mike spent 28 years in the U.S. Army Reserve, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel in 2018. He had two deployments during that time, in support of the Global War on Terror, for which he took leave from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, from January 2003 to August 2003, and again from December 2009 to June 2010. During the build up to Operation Iraqi Freedom, Mike taught Law of War and Rules of Engagement classes for deploying soldiers at Fort Benning, Georgia.

Education

•     The University of Memphis—Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, J.D., Law, 1982
•     Harding University, Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Political Science and Government, 1980