Adam Stein is a founding partner of the firm Ferguson, Stein, Chambers, Gresham & Sumter and is now of counsel with the firm. He currently principally focuses on cases involving medical malpractice and civil rights.
Adam has long been recognized for his efforts to provide fair representation to all citizens. He has worked tirelessly to fight discrimination and promote fairness and equality in cases across the state. In 1980, he was appointed by Governor Jim Hunt to establish the Office of Appellate Defender and served as North Carolina’s first Appellate Defender. Adam was the first chair of the Indigent Defense Services Commission and continues to serve on the commission. Adam was a founding member and is again a member of the Board of the Center for Death Penalty Litigation.
Adam was elected to serve as a State Bar Councilor by the lawyers in his district. He is a former Board President of North State Legal Services, Inc. He is also a past president of the Orange County Bar Association and the North Carolina Advocates for Justice (formerly the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers), which honored him with its highest award, the Chief Justice Walter Clark Award. He also received the Frank Porter Graham award, the highest award of the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina. He has served on the Board of Governors of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. Adam has been listed in editions of The Best Lawyers of America for the past 20 years.
Adam is known nationally for his appellate work with cases before the U. S. Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, the North Carolina Supreme Court and the North Carolina Court of Appeals. He has appeared before civil and criminal courts in over half the 100 counties in North Carolina.
Over the years, Adam has taught trial advocacy courses at the University of North Carolina, with the National Institute of Trial Advocacy in the United States and South Africa and has served as a visiting lecturer at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
In addition to serving the legal community, Adam has dedicated himself to serving the community at large. Adam and his wife Jane received the Citizen Award of the NC Chapter of the American Planning Association for developing Culbreth Park, a 50-home affordable housing project, near Southern Village in Chapel Hill, NC.
Adam is married to Jane and they have 3 adult children and 8 grandchildren.
