Biography

The Hon. Verna A. Adams is a judge for the Marin County Superior Court in California. She was appointed to the bench by former Governor Gray Davis in 1999.

Judge Adams graduated summa cum laude with her bachelor's degree from Wellesley College in 1967. She went on to earn her J.D. from Stanford Law School in 1970.

Prior to her appointment to the Superior Court, Adams spent her entire legal career in private practice, where she specialized in family law.

Adams was instrumental in helping to establish the Legal Self Help Center of Marin. She was also the founding member of the Marin County Women Lawyers and the Family Law and Children's Law Center. She served as past-president of the Marin County Bar Association.

During her tenure on the Superior Court, Judge Adams has served as the Assistant Presiding Judge of the Court and the Presiding Judge of the Court. She has also presided in the Family Law Division and served as the Supervising Criminal Court Judge. She served as the first judge to preside over the Mental Health Court and the Domestic Violence Court which she helped establish in Marin County.

Judge Adams was born in Racine, Wisconsin but grew up in South Bend, Indiana.