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Adam Heyman

Adam Heyman has dedicated nearly his entire two-decade legal career to successfully defending people accused of every type of serious crime as a renowned criminal defense attorney.  From 2017-2024, Adam became the longest consistently serving Class A qualified felony public defender at the prestigious King County Department of Public Defense’s Associated Counsel for the Accused Division in Seattle, Washington, where he excelled in earning acquittals and dismissals in a variety of difficult cases. There, he led multiple trial teams, helped train new attorneys entering criminal defense practice, and advocated to reform caseload standards for public defenders in the State of Washington.

Prior to that, Adam was a pioneering public defender at the historic Legal Aid Society’s Criminal Defense Practice in Brooklyn, New York, from 2005-2017, where he successfully earned not guilty verdicts and dismissals in rape, manslaughter, attempted murder, arson, possession of a weapon, assault, domestic violence, drug sale and drug possession, DUI, robbery and burglary cases.  Based on his successes, he was a Society-wide continuing legal education lecturer, intern supervisor and recruiter for the Legal Aid Society, and co-starred in National Geographic’s two-part documentary series, “Criminal Defense,” about the work of public defenders in New York City in 2011.

In 2010, Adam took a six-month sabbatical to help co-run a nascent public defender system in Nepal through the International Legal Foundation as a Kathryn Wadia Fellow, where he supervised a staff of Nepali lawyers across three regional offices, reviewing all attorney's work, from arraignment to trial and appeal, and oversaw criminal trials.  He also trained Nepali police and prosecutors, as well as trial, intermediate appellate and Supreme Court judges, on issues relating to the scope and implementation of their new constitution, as well as litigated a nation-wide class action lawsuit to win speedy trial rights for criminal defendants denied access to counsel and due process.

Adam started his career as a corporate lawyer at Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, from 2003-2005, in midtown Manhattan, where he represented corporate clients in transactions involving debt and equity financings, mergers and acquisitions and financial restructurings.

Education

  • The University of Virginia School of Law, Juris Doctor, May 2003

Professional Recognition and Honors

  • Pro-Bono Commitment Award Winner
  • Phi Beta Kappa
  • Rhodes Scholar Semi-Finalist

Professional and Community Activities

  • Litigation Director, Pro-Bono Criminal Assistance Project
  • Senior Religion and Social Justice Teacher, St. Anne’s-Belfield High School
  • Georgetown University, B.A. in Theology, Minor in Sociology, Magna Cum Laude, May 2000
  • Georgetown University Guest Lecturer, Theology Department
  • Georgetown University Division I Men’s Varsity Soccer Team, Goalkeeper
  • Oxford University, Visiting Scholar in Classical Legal Systems, St. Peter’s College, 1998-1999
  • National Criminal Defense College Trial Practice Institute, 2016

Memberships

  • Advisory Council for Project Aletheia: https://project-aletheia.org/, a collaborative center at John Jay College of Criminal Justice dedicated to improving the science and practice of interrogation.
  • Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (WACDL)
  • Washington Defenders Association (WDA)
  • American Bar Association (ABA)
  • Washington Bar Admitted 2017 (Bar number 52153)
  • New York Bar Admitted 2004 (Registration number 4207569)
  • United States District Court for the Western District of Washington.

Publications

  • Heyman , A. S., Esq., & Dineen, M. A., Esq. (2010). The Practice of the United States: An Overview of the Education, Training, Licensing and Ethical Duties of Legal Practitioners. National Judiciary Academy Law Journal of Nepal, 4(1).