Adam Frank
Adam Frank is a civil rights and criminal defense specialist who, over the last eighteen years, has consistently achieved exceptional results for his clients.
Civil Rights
Adam gets justice for people who have been victimized by law enforcement. As a career battler for the underdog, Adam lives for the opportunity to fight for the rights of people who have been wrongfully arrested, assaulted by police officers, or otherwise mistreated by public officials. In over a decade of civil rights litigation, Adam has consistently achieved excellent results for his clients through innovative arguments, attention to detail, and aggressiveness in pushing cases towards trial.
Adam's successes speak for themselves. In 2024 alone, Adam secured a $400,000 settlement for a man who had his arm broken by jail deputies, a $210,000 settlement for a woman who was tased while strapped down in a restraint chair, a $200,000 settlement for a man attacked by a police dog while he was asleep, a $195,000 settlement for a man who was wrongfully tased in a way that caused him to fall and break his clavicle, a $120,000 settlement for a man assaulted by a jail deputy, and a $100,000 settlement for a woman who was assaulted by officers after calling them to her house, among others. In 2023, not only did Adam win the first ever trial under Colorado's new civil rights law, C.R.S. ยง 13-21-131, he also secured a six-figure settlement for a client attacked by a police dog, a $120,000 settlement for a man who was assaulted by another inmate after guards refused to move him when he was threatened, a $90,000 settlement for a man who police wrongfully tased and dragged out of his own car, and a $50,000 settlement for a client punched in the face by a police officer, among others. These recent results are typical for Adam: over the last decade, he has secured over $10,000,000 worth of settlements and jury verdicts for his civil rights clients.
On issues large and small, Adam fights government misconduct, malfeasance, and corruption every day. Whether you were subjected to a brief but unconstitutional search or your loved one was murdered by people sworn to protect and serve, Adam has the expertise, the analytical abilities, and the courtroom skills to ensure you get justice. No matter the fight, Adam brings his full effort.
Criminal Defense
Adam devotes an equal portion of his work to defending people who have been accused of crimes. Adam knows that an accusation is very different from hard proof. With experience handling both high-profile cases that generate media coverage and lower-profile accusations like DUIs and domestic violence, Adam tailors his efforts to the needs of each client, developing an individualized strategy for every case based on each client's desires and priorities.
Concerning his higher-profile work, in 2024 and 2025, Adam has been fighting for the release of Michael Clark, a man wrongfully convicted of murder based on falsified DNA testimony from a now-disgraced CBI analyst. In 2022, after a years-long fight, Adam won clemency for Michael Clifton, welcoming him home from prison after Governor Polis commuted the remainder of his unjust 98-year sentence for two non-violent robberies. That year he also joined the CJA panel, providing representation for people accused of federal crimes. In 2021, Adam successfully fought the criminal charges filed against one of the organizers of the Elijah McClain protests in Aurora, securing a dismissal of all charges, which included serious felonies.
Additionally, outside the glare of the media spotlight Adam has won numerous not guilty verdicts for clients facing serious accusations, including those facing life in prison. He has won not guilty verdicts on charges of first degree murder, kidnapping, aggravated robbery, and sexual assault on a child, as well as on lesser charges. He has successfully defended clients accused of serious felonies involving domestic violence, assaulting police officers, burglary, organized crime, and drug possession, among others, regularly averting felony convictions. Adam brings the full weight of his expertise to bear on every case, understanding how any conviction, no matter the charge, can have a devastating impact on a person's life.
Background, Awards, & Recognition
From 2022 through 2025, Thompson Reuters recognized Adam as a Super Lawyer in the field of civil rights litigation. This award followed Thompson Reuters' prior recognition of Adam as a Rising Star each year from 2017 through 2021. In 2018 through 2020, and again from 2023 through 2025, 5280 Magazine recognized Adam as one of Denver's top civil rights litigators. Adam has trained other lawyers on a wide array of topics, from trial preparation to civil rights litigation to open records litigation.
Adam is a 2007 graduate of the New York University School of Law, where he was an editor of the New York University Law Review. Prior to that, he graduated from Yale University cum laude and with distinction in 2002. During law school Adam worked at the Innocence Project, helping to free people wrongfully convicted of serious crimes. He was also a summer associate at Cochran, Neufeld & Scheck, where he fought to hold cities and police forces responsible for wrongful prosecutions and to win financial recoveries for the people they had unjustly imprisoned. After graduating law school Adam joined Colorado's Office of the State Public Defender, leaving after seven and a half years as a Senior Deputy.
Community Interests
Adam was LYRIC's (Learn Your Rights In Colorado) 2016 Volunteer of the Year, teaching Denver-area high school students their constitutional rights and how to assert these rights to police officers while also staying safe. Adam also volunteers as cooperating counsel with the ACLU, bringing challenges to Colorado laws that violate the state and federal constitutions. In 2017, Adam partnered with the ACLU to get Denver's parks exclusion directive declared unconstitutional. He then successfully defended this win on appeal. From 2019 through 2021, Adam once again partnered with the ACLU and successfully challenged the constitutionality of the City of Fort Collins's prosecution of a homeless person for sleeping in his truck when he had nowhere else to go. In 2021 and 2022, Adam did extensive pro bono representation of protestors who faced wrongful criminal charges, securing dismissals of all charges for each of his protestor clients. In 2023, Adam turned to offense for these protestors, bringing civil rights cases based on their wrongful arrests. In 2024, Adam again partnered with the ACLU in its successful work securing the release of numerous municipal court defendants in Pueblo who were unconstitutionally jailed on improper charges of contempt of court.
Bar Admissions
Adam is admitted to practice in the State of Colorado, as well as in federal court in the District of Colorado and in the Tenth Circuit.