Tommy is a member of the South Carolina Bar and Lexington County Bar. He is a member of ABOTA (American Board of Trial Attorneys). He is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina.
He serves on the Board of Trustees for The University of South Carolina. Governor Nikki Haley appointed Mr. Cofield to the Board in 2011. He serves on the Academic Affairs and Faculty Liaison Committee, Buildings and Grounds Committee, Student-Trustee Liaison Committee, and on the Ad Hoc Committe on Legal Affairs.
He is also a certified Circuit Court Mediator.
He is an adjunct professor at the Charleston School of Law where he has taught Trial Advocacy, Law and the Art of Narrative, and Law in Literature.
Tommy formerly served as a law clerk for Circuit Court Walter T. Cox, III from 1982 to 1984. He was formerly a partner with Barnes, Alford, Stork and Johnson from 1984 to 2002 and marketing director from 2000 to 2002. In September of 2002, he and his sister, Amy Cofield, formed Cofield Law Firm in Lexington.
Tommy is active in community and civic affairs, and he has served as a Board Member for Make-A-Wish of South Carolina and also as Executive Board Member for the South Carolina Baptist Convention. He is active in the Church life at Lexington Baptist Church and serves as Moderator.
Tommy was born in Columbia, South Carolina. His family moved to Greenville in 1961, and he was raised in the Golden Strip area, which includes Fountain Inn, Simpsonville, and Mauldin. He attended Hillcrest High School where he was the football place-kicker. He grew up playing competitive golf and was a member of the Hillcrest High School Golf Team. He was selected to the All-State High School Golf Team in 1973.
Tommy earned his B.A. Degree as an English Major at the University of South Carolina. He graduated cum laude, was chosen to be a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society, and he served on The Student Court. He was a writing student under James Dickey and William Price Fox, and he won several writing awards.
Tommy married his high school sweetheart, Janet McDonald Cofield, of Mauldin, and they have two children: Thomas C. Cofield, Jr. (T.J.), who is a student at Princeton Theological Seminary, and Caitlin Carolina Cofield, who is a student at the University of South Carolina