Lawyer Bio : Jean T. Adams

Jean T. Adams

Winston-Salem

As an attorney focused on estate planning, trust and estate administration, business succession planning and charitable gift planning, Jean Adams brings an extra dimension to her practice. Having spent her early legal career as a law professor, Jean has a depth of experience that enables her to take a creative, "big picture" approach to her clients’ needs, while her background in counseling assures that the solutions she brings to the table are firmly grounded in each client’s individual values and objectives.

In Jean’s practice, there is no such thing as "one-size-fits-all," and her clients run the gamut from business owners to retirees, professionals to entrepreneurs, blended families to unmarried individuals. She is experienced in resolving trust and estate controversies, unraveling thorny tax problems and developing strategies for multi-generational estate and business succession planning. Jean’s ability to explain complex ideas in understandable fashion has served her well not only in working with clients, judges and revenue agents, but also as a speaker to professional and community groups.

Jean has been selected for inclusion in North Carolina Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers in America, and North Carolina Legal Elite.

Additional Biography Info

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Professional Activities

North Carolina Bar Association, Estate Planning & Fiduciary Law Section, (Chair 2002-03); Southern Federal Tax Institute, President (2009), Trustee (2001-); American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, Fellow (2002-); North Carolina General Statutes Commission (2009-); Winston-Salem Estate Planning Council.

Admitted to bar, 1985, Georgia; 1992, North Carolina.

Civic Activities

Planned Giving Councils of Wake Forest University (1995-97), Duke University (1996-) and Forsyth Medical Center Foundation (2000-02); United Way of Forsyth County Women’s Leadership Council (Vice Chair 2009); University of North Carolina School of the Arts Foundation Board (2005-); Ronald McDonald House of Winston-Salem Board (1993-2001); Summit School Board (1998-2001).

Education

B.A., Psychology, 1972, Duke University, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa; M.Ed., Counseling, 1975, Duke University; J.D., 1979, Duke University School of Law, Order of the Coif, Willis Smith Award (highest academic average); Editor-in-Chief, Duke Law Journal. 

Additional Information

Teaching Experience
Adjunct Faculty, Wake Forest University School of Law, 1991-1992; Assistant Professor, Assistant Dean, Associate Dean, Senior Lecturer, Duke University School of Law, 1980-1990.

Firm Management Responsibilities
Trusts & Estates Practice Group Leader