Earl Adams, Jr., is Of Counsel in DLA Piper’s Litigation and Government Affairs practices. His practice focuses on representing clients before all branches of state and local government, including various administrative agencies.

Mr. Adams comes to DLA Piper after serving as Chief of Staff to the Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, Anthony G. Brown, for nearly five years. In that role, he supported the Lieutenant Governor’s efforts to expand and improve health care, support economic development, help victims of domestic violence, increase access to higher education and provide veterans with better services and resources.

Mr. Adams led the Lieutenant Governor’s team in advancing administration priorities in front of the Maryland General Assembly, including the state’s implementation of federal health reform, creation of BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) economic zones and the streamlining of Maryland’s Public-Private Partnership procurement laws. He also worked on issues related to increasing access to higher education, improving services to veterans and advocating for victims of domestic violence. He regularly testified before committees and represented the Lt. Governor in negotiations and discussions on these matters.

His other notable executive branch service includes serving on a four-member team of state officials who negotiated the terms of the state’s role in stabilizing the Prince George’s County hospital system, as well as being appointed by Governor Martin O’Malley to chair a task force on relocating the state Department of Housing and Community Development. Mr. Adams served as an attendee of Governor Martin O’Malley’s Executive Cabinet, and, before holding that post, was Deputy Chief of Staff to Lieutenant Governor Brown, coordinating and executing the Office’s legislative and policy agenda.

Based in DLA Piper’s Baltimore and Annapolis offices, Mr. Adams will also counsel clients in Washington, DC.

In 2011, the Maryland Daily Record named Mr. Adams as one its Very Important Professionals under the age of 40. Mr. Adams is also a member of the 2011 LEADERship Class of the Greater Baltimore Committee. He was a member of the 2011 Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Mission to Israel and a delegate to the 2009 American Council of Young Political Leaders Exchange to Japan. In 2008, he was a Fellow in the University of Maryland Academy of Leadership’s Public Leadership Program. He is also a proud Eagle Scout.

His extensive public service also includes participation in the Obama-Biden Transition Team for the Department of Veterans Affairs, Legal Affairs; serving on the Board of Directors of the Baltimore Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America; election to the Boston College Law School National Alumni Assembly; and service as First Vice President of the Prince George’s Branch of the NAACP (2006-2010).

Before entering public service, Mr. Adams practiced labor and employment law in the Washington, DC office of a global law firm and land use and zoning law with a Prince George’s County, Maryland based firm. Prior to becoming a lawyer, he was a Market Analyst in Domestic Revenue Management with American Airlines. He began his legal career as a summer associate with DLA Piper.