Administrative Directory - Administrative Judges - Outside NYC

Hon. Thomas A. Adams

The Honorable Thomas A. Adams has served in the New York State Court System for over forty-two years.  Justice Adams is currently the Administrative Judge of Nassau County, having been appointed to the position on January 18, 2013, by former Chief Administrative Judge A. Gail Prudenti.  As Administrative Judge, he is responsible for the day-to-day supervision and oversight of nearly 100 judges and justices and more than 1,200 non-judicial employees assigned to Supreme Court, Court of Claims, Surrogate’s Court, County Court, Family Court, and District Court, plus judges and non-judicial employees of the courts in the villages and cities of Nassau County.

Justice Adams began his public service in the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office.  As an Assistant District Attorney from 1973 to 1980, he prosecuted misdemeanors and felonies, serving in the District Court Trial Bureau, Grand Jury, Felony Trial Bureau, White Collar Crime Unit, and Felony Screening Bureau.

In 1981, the Judge became Law Secretary to the Honorable Marvin I. Goodman, County Court Judge of Nassau County.  As Law Secretary, he conferenced felony cases and wrote legal decisions for Judge Goodman.

Elected to Nassau County District Court in 1987, Justice Adams began a judicial career that has spanned over twenty-eight years.  As a District Court Judge, he handled civil and criminal cases.

After five years in the District Court, Justice Adams was elected to the New York State Supreme Court, 10th Judicial District, where he served on the Nassau County Supreme Court from 1993 to 2006.

In February, 2001, he had the distinct honor of being appointed by Governor George E. Pataki to the position of Associate Justice of the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department.

Justice Adams was again privileged to accept an appointment by Governor Pataki, when, in December, 2006, he was named as Judge of the New York State Court of Claims.  He was then appointed as an Acting Justice of the Supreme Court, Nassau County, by Chief Administrative Judge Jonathan Lippman.

In November, 2011, the Judge was elected again to the New York State Supreme Court, 10th Judicial District, where he presides currently as the Administrative Judge of Nassau County.

During the past forty-two years, Justice Adams has received numerous awards and honors from professional and community organizations.  His memberships have included: Nassau County Bar Association; Association of Justices of the Supreme Court of the State of New York; Association of Court of Claims’ Judges; District Court Judges’ Association; Columbian Lawyers of Nassau County; Former Assistant District Attorneys’ Association of Nassau County; Alumni Association of New England School of Law; Elizabethtown College Alumni; Lions Club of Rockville Centre; Order of the Sons of Italy; Friends of Historic Saint George’s Church; Church of the Ascension; Nassau County Court Officers’ Baseball League (For two seasons, the Judge led the league in homeruns!); Oceanside Little League; Oceanside Junior and Senior Baseball Leagues; Rockville Centre Boys’ Basketball; St Anthony’s CYO Girls Basketball and Volleyball; and Girls’ Sally League of Oceanside.

Justice Adams is a life-long Nassau County resident.  He was raised in the Village of Hempstead and graduated from the Uniondale Public Schools.  His undergraduate years were spent at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania where he graduated in 1970.  Then in 1973, he graduated from New England Law, Boston, Massachusetts.

Justice Adams and his wife, Joann, have lived in the Village of Rockville Centre since 1973.  Joann is a practicing attorney in the village.  They raised their two children in Rockville Centre where they attended and graduated from the Oceanside Public Schools.  Their daughter, Suzanne, is an attorney, living and practicing in Manhattan where she is a founding partner of McManus, Richter, Adams & Apostolakos, PLLC.  Their son, Joseph, is an attorney, living and practicing in Valley Falls, New York, with his wife, Virginia Scott-Adams, Psy.D., and their seven year old son, Scott Thomas, and their three year old daughter, Lillian Jean. 

 

Judge Thomas A. Adams

Information about Judge Hinrichs is also available on the Judicial Directory.