ATTORNEY Paul Adams

If I could summarize the three most important things to me it would be my God, my family, and my responsibility to care for people who place their trust in me. 

My early story took me around the world.  I was born into a family of farmers, preachers, and electricians in the high plains of Western Nebraska.  My parents moved to Austria for several years and I grew up speaking a German dialect.  Upon returning to the States, we lived in various places in Iowa, Illinois, and Michigan.  As I grew up and made my own family, I never lost that willingness to move wherever I felt needed most: having lived with my own family in four states. 

My professional career began in 2009 when I obtained a Licensed Practical Nurse license and began working at an inpatient Medical/Oncology floor.  A subsequent bachelor’s degree in nursing elevated me to a Registered Nurse position.  From there I continued to work as an RN—even while attending law school full-time—and have actively worked in the nursing field for over a decade.  I maintain an active nursing license—and a love for the nursing field—which augments my enjoyment of grappling with the complex legal challenges my clients face.

My favorite memories made at work have always been helping people who have unique needs.  My clients are not just a diagnosis or a legal complaint—they are valuable individuals who need to be treated with dignity and respect and be allowed to understand and participate in their options.  I enjoy legal disputes and litigation—I excelled in law school—but I always keep in mind that many times what is best for the client is to help them create realistic goals so that they can make an informed decision as to what is best for them. 

“Winning” at all costs can sometimes cause more harm than good.  This is especially true in the realm of Family Law.  As a father of seven, happy children, it is deeply disturbing to me how children are often used as a tool in many parental battles over money and support—while the children’s emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being are an afterthought.  As a little-known proverb states: “Whoever brings ruin on their family will inherit only wind.”  I am always appreciative of other attorneys who are willing to reach across the aisle and reach a more peaceful solution that seeks to protect the innocent who are caught between parents with irreconcilable differences.