Thomas J. Rode, grew up in Wilmington, N.C., and attended the North Carolina State University before graduating magna cum laude from Charleston School of Law.

He began his career as the law clerk to the Honorable Paula H. Thomas of the South Carolina Court of Appeals in Columbia and then moved into private practice with the Savage Law Firm of Charleston. He has represented clients in both state and federal Courts as well as in the South Carolina Court of Appeals and Supreme Court of South Carolina.

A member of the South Carolina Bar Association, the Charleston County Bar Association, and South Carolina Young Lawyers, Thomas serves as an adjunct professor at the Charleston School of Law. He is admitted to practice in South Carolina and before the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina.

Thomas and his wife, Julie Moore Rode, live in West Ashley with their dogs Howie and Omar.