Lori Adams is the Managing Attorney in the Refugee Protection Program at Human Rights First. In that position she oversees the pro bono legal representation of indigent asylum seekers. She provides support to volunteer lawyers from law firms in New York and New Jersey who represent asylum seekers at all levels of the system. She also provides information and legal services to asylum seekers in DHS detention, and helps to coordinate their legal representation. She is a member of the Study Group on Immigrant Representation, launched by Judge Robert A. Katzmann of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which aims to increase high-quality pro bono representation of asylum seekers and otherwise address the unmet legal needs of the immigrant poor in New York. She is also a member of the Working Group on Immigrant Representation, led by Judge Michael A. Chagares of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, which has similar aims in New Jersey. Ms. Adams is a frequent speaker on immigration-related topics and a co-author of a report on the negative impact of the one-year filing deadline in asylum cases.
Before joining Human Rights First, Ms. Adams was the attorney advisor in the New York Immigration Court, where she drafted decisions for twenty-eight immigration judges and supervised the work of the court's law clerks and interns. She has also worked for the American Civil Liberties Union and for the Honorable Deborah A. Batts in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Ms. Adams has a philosophy degree from the University of Oregon and a law degree from New York Law School. She is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and is admitted to practice law in New York and New Jersey.