Division Three: Associate Justice Rashida A. Adams
Rashida Adams is an Associate Justice of the Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, Division Three.Justice Adams began her legal career in Washington, D.C., where she worked at a law firm specializing in employment discrimination and whistleblower litigation. In 2005, she joined a boutique firm in Los Angeles, where she practiced civil litigation. In 2008, Justice Adams joined the Court of Appeal as a research attorney in the Second Appellate District, Division Eight.
In 2017, Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. appointed Justice Adams to the Los Angeles Superior Court, where she presided over juvenile dependency and criminal courtrooms. In February 2023, Governor Gavin Newsom nominated Justice Adams to the Second District Court of Appeal, Division Three. The Judicial Nominees Evaluation Commission rated her “exceptionally well qualified,” and the Commission on Judicial Appointments unanimously confirmed her in April 2023.
Justice Adams graduated from Harvard University and received her law degree from Yale Law School.