Justice Suzanne Adams

Justice Adams is the Administrative Judge for Manhattan Civil Supreme Court. She was appointed to this position by Chief Administrative Judge Joseph A. Zayas and First Deputy Chief Administrative Judge Norman St. George. The appointment was made with the approval of Chief Judge Rowan D. Wilson and after consultation with Presiding Justice Dianne T. Renwick of the Appellate Division, First Department. She oversees the day-to-day operation of one of the State’s busiest courts of civil jurisdiction including 60 Supreme Court Justices, 285 court staff (non-uniform), 104 court staff (uniform), and 121 chambers staff.

Prior to her appointment, Justice Adams was an Acting Supreme Court Justice in New York County from 2020 to 2024. This included a special assignment of cases affiliated with the Adult Survivor’s Act, and the Coogan Law, which protects child actors’ earning. She also conducted jury trials for all types of civil litigation including toxic torts (asbestos and talc), general negligence, medical malpractice, contracts, commercial disputes and motor vehicle accidents. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, she oversaw all litigation involving the New York City Transit Authority, in New York County.

Before her election to the New York City Civil Court in November of 2017, Justice Adams practiced nearly twenty years as a litigator in the New York State Courts. She was a partner at a Manhattan based, women owned law firm, and founded a Manhattan based litigation law firm where she was the managing partner. Before becoming a judge, she received a Proclamation from the New York State Assembly in recognition of her volunteer legal work at the Eviction Intervention Services Clinic.

Her judicial assignments have included Criminal Court and Family Court. In 2019, Justice Adams was chosen by the Office of Court Administration to be one of the six judges to oversee the newly formed “Raise the Age” part in Family Court. She was chosen for this role because of her holistic approach to adjudicating troubled youth and alternatives to incarceration. The “Raise the Age” part, formed in 2019, was created to adjudicate children under the age of 18 as minors in Family Court, in certain situations, instead of adults in Criminal Court.

She was formerly the co-chair of the New York County Lawyers Association Civil Court Section and formerly the chairperson of the Board of Directors for the Columbian Lawyers Association, First Judicial Department. Currently, she a member of the executive board for the Columbian Lawyers Association, First Judicial Department, the National Organization of Italian American Women, and the New York County Lawyers Association.

Justice Adams graduated from Penn State University, with a B.A. in Journalism, and she received her J.D from Hofstra University Law School.