Photo of MAJ McGuinness

MAJ Patrick D. McGuiness

Assistant Professor

Law & Philosophy

patrick.mcguiness [at] westpoint.edu

MAJ Patrick D. McGuiness serves in the U.S. Army Reserve and is an assistant law professor in the Department of Law and Philosophy at the United States Military Academy. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in history from the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire in 2002 and a Juris Doctor from Mitchell Hamline School of Law in 2006.

MAJ McGuiness is from Saint Paul, Minnesota, and commissioned into the Judge Advocate General’s Corps in 2011. His mobilized and deployed experiences include deployment with the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) to Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force–Syria in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, and service as deputy staff judge advocate for Special Operations Command South in Homestead, Florida.

In U.S. Army Reserve roles, MAJ McGuiness has served as deputy director (IMA), Future Concepts Directorate at the Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School; national security law attorney (IMA), U.S. Army Japan, Camp Zama, Japan; and rule of law attorney, 214th Legal Operations Detachment, Fort Snelling, Minnesota.

In his civilian employment, MAJ McGuiness is a speaker, author and attorney on contract and employment law matters for the horticulture industry. He is a founding partner at the law firm of Zlimen & McGuiness, PLLC. He serves on the boards of a large credit union, a mutual insurance company, a family-owned retail construction company and a horticulture industry trade association.

MAJ McGuiness teaches LW 403 – Constitutional and Military Law, and his research interests include all aspects of the law of armed conflict.

J.D. - Mitchell Hamline School of Law

B.A., History - University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire