Brent T. Adams

Brent Thomas Adams (June 3, 1948 – November 2, 2022) was an American judge in Nevada's Second Judicial District, located in Reno, Washoe County, Nevada. He served for 25 years, eventually becoming Chief Judge of that court. He innovated with the creation and development of a drug court, created a forum for early case resolution, created and chaired a Criminal Justice Advisory Committee, served as the District Court's first business court judge and continuing to serve as a business court judge until his retirement over 10 years later.

Early life and education Adams was born in Las Vegas, Nevada, on June 3, 1948. He attended Las Vegas High School. For two years, Adams was a Nevada state high school debate champion. He was one of two Nevada high school students selected to participate at Northwestern University's National High School Institute. He was on championship high school debate teams in Nevada and in national competitions.

In 1972, Adams received his undergraduate degree, with honors, from Northern Arizona University.

Legal career

Lawyer Adams received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Arizona College of Law in 1974. He was chairman of the Washoe County Criminal Justice Advisory Committee from 1992 to 2002. Adams was the first presiding judge in the Washoe County Business Court. He continued to serve as a business court judge until his retirement 14 years later. As a business court judge, Adams was an advocate of active and early case management as a means of controlling the expense and duration of litigation, which in turn would promote the long-term financial health of the companies in litigation.

Adams was chosen to sit by designation in some cases before Nevada's Supreme Court.

Author Adams was editor-in-chief of the Nevada Civil Practice Manual.

Journalism While still an undergraduate, during the summers, he became a reporter for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Adams received the Charles E. Murray Award from the Nevada State Press Association for Outstanding Reporter of the Year.

Awards and honors He was named Judge of the Year by the Northern Nevada Alumni Association of the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law.