Adam Abelson Selected to Maryland Daily Record’s 2020 VIP List

Zuckerman Spaeder Partner Adam Abelson has received the Maryland Daily Record’s “Very Important Professionals Successful By 40” award, placing him on what is known as the “VIP List.” The honor recognizes his recent professional achievements and commitment to his community.

VIP List honorees are age 40 or younger and are selected by an outside panel of judges, including past winners and business leaders, “based on their professional accomplishments, community service and a commitment to inspiring change.”

Mr. Abelson is based in Zuckerman Spaeder’s Baltimore office, where he represents clients in complex and high-profile cases including government investigations and white-collar criminal prosecutions. 

Recently, he has worked on several of the firm’s most important cases, including leading discovery and examining witnesses at the highest-profile white collar case of 2019, playing a key role in litigation that forced the federal government to implement major changes to a prescription drug discount program that supports hospitals serving low income communities, and trying a prominent federal case under the Endangered Species Act.  Mr. Abelson was also part of the trial team that last year delivered what is widely considered to be the most important recent legal win for mental health parity.

Mr. Abelson’s community involvement in Baltimore and beyond was also an important factor in the VIP recognition. As Vice President on the board of the Job Opportunities Task Force, he works to eliminate educational and employment barriers for low-wage workers. Mr. Abelson’s efforts have focused especially on creating job opportunities for, and seeking systemic changes that support, Baltimore residents with criminal records. 

Mr. Abelson also works for broad-based judicial system improvements, including by serving on the American Bar Association’s Task Force on Building Public Trust in the American Justice System. He played an important role in the drafting of the American Bar Association’s Ten Guidelines on Court Fines and Fees.

Mr. Abelson graduated magna cum laude and Order of the Coif from New York University School of Law, where he was Managing Editor of the NYU Journal of International Law and Politics. Mr. Abelson clerked for the Honorable Andre M. Davis of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and the Honorable Catherine C. Blake of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. He graduated cum laude from Princeton University.