He completed a Consumer Rights and Poverty Law training program at Haverford College and was assigned to the Duval County Legal Aid Association, a legal aid society in Duval County, Florida, from 1969 to 1970.

He was an assistant public defender of the Fourth Judicial Circuit of Florida (Duval, Clay, and Nassau counties) from November 1970 to 1972.

In October 1979, Governor Bob Graham appointed Adams a judge of the Fourth Judicial Circuit.

Adams remained a judge on that court until 1993, when President Bill Clinton nominated him to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida on October 29, 1993, to the seat vacated by Judge Susan H. Black.

He was confirmed by the United States Senate on November 20, 1993, and received his commission four days later.