Washington, DC (Aug. 5, 2019) -- Christopher Adams of Charleston, SC, was sworn in as President-Elect of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) at the Association's annual meeting in Philadelphia, PA, on August 3. 

Adams is a founding partner at The Law Offices of Adams & Bischoff, P.C. and has represented clients all over the country in capital and noncapital cases. Adams was recognized for Criminal Defense in South Carolina by Super Lawyers in 2016 and 2019. Before starting his own practice, Adams was a public defender for 15 years. Beginning in Charleston, SC, he and his family returned there in 2010 after being in Atlanta for 10 years.

In 2000, Adams joined the Southern Center for Human Rights, a nationally acclaimed non-profit law office in Atlanta that defends people facing the death penalty throughout the Deep South. He then became the founding director of the Office of the Georgia Capital Defender, a state agency defending poor people accused of capital murder. During his tenure, the office resolved 40 cases without a death verdict. 

Adams is a life member of NACDL, a faculty member at the National Criminal Defense College (NCDC), and a co-founder of and faculty member at the National College of Capital Voir Dire. He has also taught criminal defense law classes at Emory University, Georgia State University, and the Charleston School of Law, and frequently lectures on topics such as death penalty defense, criminal law, and trial advocacy. 

Adams previously served on the Law Alumni Board for Georgetown University, where he earned his law degree in 1992.

Contacts

Madeline Sklar, NACDL Public Affairs and Communications Assistant, (202) 465-7647 or msklar@nacdl.org.

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is the preeminent organization advancing the mission of the criminal defense bar to ensure justice and due process for persons accused of crime or wrongdoing. A professional bar association founded in 1958, NACDL's many thousands of direct members in 28 countries – and 90 state, provincial and local affiliate organizations totaling up to 40,000 attorneys – include private criminal defense lawyers, public defenders, military defense counsel, law professors and judges committed to preserving fairness and promoting a rational and humane criminal justice system.