akoss@kossfirm.com         

Direct Line:  (925) 393-7895   

As a certified specialist in Legal Malpractice Law, Adam’s practice focuses on ethics, legal malpractice, and other professional liability claims including accounting, real estate, and insurance professionals, from pre-lawsuit negotiations through trial and appeals. His representation of each client is focused solely on achieving the best outcome for that particular client.

Adam is one of the few Legal Malpractice Specialists in the San Francisco Bay Area whose litigation practice centers around plaintiff side litigation, representing legal services consumers against their former lawyers.  After formulating a litigation plan in cooperation with his clients, Adam works diligently toward those unique and tailored goals. Throughout litigation, Adam focuses on his clients’ best interests and is always willing to explore resolutions and settlements on favorable terms. He does, however, recognize that some cases must be decided by a jury, and has served numerous times as trial counsel in court and arbitration, as well as handling appeals in those professional malpractice cases.

MEMBERSHIPS AND COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTIONS

Adam is past member (2018-2021) of the California State Bar’s Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct (COPRAC) and currently serves as a Special Deputy Trial Counsel for the State Bar’s Office of Chief Trial Counsel, prosecuting disciplinary cases in which there is a conflict for the State Bar’s Trial Counsel . Adam is an active member of the Bar Association of San Francisco on the Legal Ethics Committee and Solo/Small Firm section’s executive committee, and with the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers (APRL).  Adam has been named a Northern California Super Lawyer from 2021 to 2025, and before that was a Rising Star in 2018 and 2019. In his free time, Adam enjoys watching his daughters play volleyball.  

ADMISSIONS

  • Certified Specialist, Legal Malpractice Law, The State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization
  • All Federal District Courts within the State of California
  • Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

EDUCATION

  • University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law (2006), J.D., with great distinction, Order of the Coif
    • Managing editor of the Pacific McGeorge Global Business and Development Law Journal
    • Extern for Justice George W. Nicholson at the California Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District
  • University of California, Santa Barbara (2002), B.A., Philosophy with an emphasis in ethics and public policy

SELECTED PRESENTATIONS

  • Case Law Update. American Bar Association Legal Malpractice Seminar, September 2025
  • Lawyers in the Court of Public Opinion, Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers, February 2024
  • Top 10 Ways to Get Sued for Malpractice or in Trouble with the State Bar, Contra Costa County Bar Association, May 2023
  • Lawyers Behaving Badly – Real Life Examples of Lawyers Misconduct, Bar Association of San Francisco, January 2023
  • Silo Sanity – Legal Professional Responsibilities Relating to Competence, Bar Association of San Francisco, January 2022
  • Failure to Launch: Ethical Issues at the Start of Representation; California State Bar, April 2021
  • Ethical Issues in a Borderless, Digital World, Bar Association of San Francisco, January 2021
  • Succession Planning: Consideration in Estate Planning, Employment & Ethics, Bar Association of San Francisco, January 2021
  • Rules of Engagement:  Conflicts, Ethics and Bankruptcy, Bar Association of San Francisco, January 2020
  • Ethics and Lawyer Trust Accounts, American Immigration Lawyers Association, January 2019
  • A Brave New World: How to Ethically Navigate New Advances in Legal Technology, Bar Association of San Francisco, October 2018
  • Legal Ethics in the Digital Age, DRI Appellate Advocacy Seminar, March 2018
  • Ethics and Appellate Litigation, DRI Appellate Advocacy Seminar, May 2017
  • Positional Conflicts and Ethical Issues, DRI Appellate Advocacy Seminar, February 2016
  • Don’t Panic, It is Only a Fee Petition, DRI Professional Liability Seminar, December 2015
  • Strategic Use of Joint Defense Agreements in Litigation, Strafford Publications, July 2015
  • How To Avoid Ethical Pitfalls When Doing Pro Bono Work, Bar Association of San Francisco
  • Ethical Advice for Solo Practitioners and Doing Pro Bono Work, Bar Association of San Francisco, May 2013

SELECTIVE ARTICLES