A native of Long Island, NY, Justice Thomas A. Adams was born on January 17, 1948 in Mineola and raised in Hempstead. He graduated from Uniondale High School in 1966 and received his B.A. from Elizabethtown College in Elizabethtown, PA in 1970. Adams went on to earn his J.D. in 1973 from New England School of Law in Boston, MA and was admitted to the Bar on August 20, 1974. He served as the Assistant District Attorney in Nassau County from 1973-1981, and then as Law Secretary to Hon. Marvin I. Goodman from 1981-1987.
In 1987, Adams was elected District Court Judge of Nassau County, a position he held until 1992, when he was elected Supreme Court Justice of Nassau County. On March 22, 2001, Governor George Pataki appointed Adams to the position of Associate Justice of the Appellate Division, Second Department.
Adams received an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Elizabethtown College in 1997. He is a member of a number of professional and civic organizations, including the Nassau County Bar Association, Former Assistant District Attorney’s Association of Nassau County, Columbian Lawyers of Nassau County, Lions Club, Sons of Italy, Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association, Experimental Aircraft Association, the Church of Ascension, and the Association of Justices of the NYS Supreme Court.
His wife, Joann, and two children, Suzanne and Joseph, are graduates of Hofstra Law School and are practicing attorneys.
Sources
“Adams, Thomas A.” Biographical information sheets. Appellate Division, Second Department Library, Brooklyn.
“Full Biography for Thomas A. “Tom” Adams.” Smart Voter. League of Women Voters, 31 Oct. 2006. Web. 24 Aug. 2011. http://www.smartvoter.org/2006/11/07/ny/state/vote/adams_t/bio.html.
“Justices of the Court: Associate Justice Thomas A. Adams.” Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department. New York State Unified Court System. 24 Aug. 2011. http://www.courts.state.ny.us/courts/ad2/justice_adams.shtml.