A Summit Hill man was officially sworn into the Carbon County Bar Association during a ceremony in the Court of Common Pleas on Monday morning.

Thomas L. Jones, son of William and Donna Jones of Summit Hill, was issued his oath of office by Judge Joseph J. Matika. Jones will begin duties as a full-time public defender in Carbon County on Monday.The lawyer was sponsored by attorney Joseph J. Velitsky of Summit Hill, making the event an all-Summit Hill affair. Matika was born and raised in the hilltop community. Before being elected to the bench, he and Velitsky had law offices together in town.The jurist seized the opportunity to tell Jones it was with great pleasure that he is able to swear in a Summit Hill resident, and, he noted, a "fellow Panther Valley High School graduate."Calling attention to the court's hectic docket with regard to criminal proceedings, he told Jones it is likely he will be immediately busy in his defense work. The judge cited the outstanding work of Velitsky and the late attorney Thomas S. McCready, who was also of Summit Hill, and challenged Jones to follow their footsteps.Two county officeholders from Summit Hill, Commissioner Bill O'Gurek and controller Bob Crampsie, joined the festivities, while recorder of deeds Emmett McCall of Lansford, who was unable to attend, sent his best wishes to Jones, being a longtime friend of the Jones family.The lawyer's parents and his sister, Lauren Williams, held the Bible for the oath.Previously, Jones was sworn in to the Washington State Bar Association during a ceremony in his home county of Carbon by President Judge Roger N. Nanovic of the Carbon County Court of Common Pleas.After leaving PVHS, Jones graduated from Kutztown University in 2002 and Widener University School of Law in 2005.At Widener, he represented the school at the National Trial Competition and worked at the Harrisburg Law Firm of Farrell and Ricci, P.C. He served as assistant director of the Widener's international program in Geneva, Switzerland, which centered on public international criminal and human rights law.During his third year of law school, Jones was a judicial extern in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to U.S. Magistrate Judge Gustavo Gelpi and U.S. District Court Judge Jay A. Garcia-Gregory, where he authored several published opinions. Additionally, while in San Juan, he worked for the federal practice firm of Nachman and Guillemard, P.C., where he received experience in cases involving civil and political rights in employment, federal and state election law and marketing and distribution law.Following graduation, he returned to San Juan, accepting a federal clerkship with Justo Arenas, Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge for the District of Puerto Rico, where he wrote opinions on intellectual property, Social Security, maritime law and contract/entertainment law. He then served as a law clerk to Carmen Conde and Associates, a commercial bankruptcy law firm. In that capacity, Jones worked with the managing partner at Conde in cases involving the reorganization of engineering firms, telecommunication companies and the El Commandante Race Track.Jones served in the Merchant Marines for the past seven years, as a member of the Seafarers International Union. He worked for the General Dynamics/American Overseas Marine as a chief electrician in the engineering department aboard a U.S. Marine Corps supply vessel USNS 1st Lt. Jack Lummus, manned by a hybrid crew of military personnel and civilian merchant mariners. In 2008, the vessel served as a platform for Operation Key Resolve/Foal Eagle, an exercise conducted in South Korea by a co-op of the U.S. and Korean militaries. Under direction of the Department of Defense, the vessel also delivered U.S. Agency for International Development cargo to Port Au Prince, Haiti, following the 2010 earthquake.