Michael Roden

Business Mediator

Mediator · Attorney

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. Mike spent 28 years in the U.S. Army Reserve, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel in 2018.