FROM HEAD START TO HARVARD AND OXFORD
As a little boy growing up in Atlanta, Georgia, Herbert Adams, Jr. was taught by his parents to be ethical and hard working. From his pastor, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and other leaders at Ebenezer Baptist Church, he learned the meaning of sacrifice and commitment to those you represent. And now, many years later, he has literally put those lessons into practice as an attorney and counselor at law.
Herbert has represented men and women charged with some of the most heinous crimes imaginable. He has done so not because he condoned what they allegedly did, but because he believes firmly in the constitutional principle that everyone is entitled to a zealous defense, regardless of the allegations against them. He also believes that the government power to prosecute must be kept in check to prevent it from becoming the power to persecute. As a former prosecutor and current Municipal Court judge, Herbert knows that the scales of justice must be balanced, not weighed down improperly by one side.
Herbert believes that those who have been badly injured by the negligent acts of others should be compensated. That is why he represents injured people in such cases as motor vehicle accidents, medical malpractice, wrongful death and products liability. An example of his efforts was the landmark case which resulted in the largest verdict ever against the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (“M.A.R.T.A.”).
Herbert has litigated cases throughout Georgia and in Tennessee and Washington, D.C. at both the State and Federal levels. In addition, he has tried more than one hundred cases and litigated many appeals. Some of his notable cases include the largest ever (at the time) health care fraud case in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia; a murder conviction overturned by the Supreme Court of Georgia; a Juvenile Court adjudication of delinquency in south Georgia overturned by the Court of Appeals of Georgia; and acquittals and hung juries in murder, armed robbery, aggravated assault, rape, kidnapping, cocaine possession, police brutality, child abandonment and other major cases.
Herbert Adams, Jr. attended the first Head Start program in Georgia in the 1960s. He is a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology (where he was a member of the senior honorary, Anak), Southern Methodist University School of Law (where he was a member of The Barristers and a national moot court winner) and Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government (where he was elected president of the student body). In addition, while in law school he spent a semester at the University of Oxford in England. Herbert was the youngest person ever selected for the board of trustees at Ebenezer Baptist Church more than a decade ago, and he still serves as a trustee. He serves on a number of civic boards and has held several local Bar association leadership positions, including president. He is in demand as a public speaker. Herbert is a member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity. He and his wife Shelby reside in the Atlanta, Georgia area.