Compassionate Donors of the Year Award -
Adam J. Sheppard
Given to those who exemplify true devotion to paving the way for reform in our justice system.
Adam J. Sheppard is an aggressive advocate for criminal and Title IX defendants, and a frequent contributor to publications in the area of criminal law. He has published over 20 articles in different respected legal periodicals and magazines, many of which appear on Westlaw and has repeatedly lectured at Chicago-Kent College of Law on Federal Sentencing.
Adam was elected by a distinguished nominating committee, comprised of leaders in the bar association — judges, government attorneys, private practitioners, arbitrators — to serve on the Board of Managers for the Chicago Bar Association. He was also elected to the Board of the Illinois Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in 2022 and to the board of the North Suburban Bar Association in 2023, on which he serves with distinguished judges and attorneys.
Super Lawyer magazine has repeatedly named Adam Sheppard as a Super Lawyer in the areas of White Collar Crime and Criminal Defense. Since 2012, the magazine had recognized Adam Sheppard. He served on the Board of Managers of the Chicago Bar Association; he was also Legislative Liaison for the Chicago Bar Association Trial Practice Committee helping to propose and draft CBA-supported legislation for consideration by the Illinois House & Senate. He was Vice Chair of the Chicago Bar Association Litigation Committee.
In addition, Adam has served for over a decade on the Chicago Bar Association’s Editorial Board and has served for over a decade on the Decalogue Society Board of Managers. He is a former co-editor-in-chief of the Young Lawyers Journal of the CBA Record and a current editorial board member of the CBA Record as well as a published author in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin. In addition, Adam is a recognized contributor to academic writing in the area of criminal defense. He had also served on the editorial board of the American Bar Association’s Young Advocates Committee.
Recently, Adam was elected to Vice Chair of Membership for the Lighthouse for the Blind, junior board. He serves as a Federal Defender Panel Attorney in the Northern District of Illinois, whereby federal judges appoint him to represent federal defendants under the Criminal Justice Act.
Adam has lectured to law school classes, including at Chicago-Kent College of Law on federal sentencing. Adam is also a lifetime member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, a member of the Federal Bar Association, the Constitutional Rights Foundation, the Illinois State Bar Association, the legal committee of NORML.
Following in the footsteps of his father Barry, Adam has become an integral part of the Hinda Institute Legal Advisory Committee personally advising the Hinda Institute.