Valerie Adams grew up in Portland, Maine. She earned her BA in Politics from Mount Holyoke College in 2008, cum laude, and her JD from the University of Maine School of Law in 2014. Through a joint-degree program, Valerie then received a Masters of Public Policy and Management from the Muskie School of Public Service in 2015. Her capstone focused on the outsized impact of non-traffic safety related license suspensions on low-income defendants in the criminal justice system.

Since 2015, Valerie has worked in criminal and immigration law. She has tried criminal cases ranging from low-level misdemeanors to Homicide. Valerie also has experience as a prosecutor and has tried a number of cases for the State. She has appellate experience, both in criminal and protective custody cases, and has argued before the Maine Supreme Judicial Court sitting as the Law Court multiple times.

Valerie lives in Pownal with her husband in two children. In her free time, she enjoys brutally long and arduous hikes, skiing, sledding, and playing outdoors with her kids.