Attorney Advertising. This profile is independent editorial content produced by Awesome Attorneys and is not a paid placement. Nothing in this article constitutes legal advice or creates an attorney-client relationship. See our Methodology and Publisher Disclosure below.

Adamo & Adamo Law Firm: A Father-Son Team With Over 50 Years Combined Since Sam Sr. Left the DA’s Office in 1976

Sam Adamo Sr. left the Harris County District Attorney’s Office in 1976, after five years prosecuting everything from DWIs to capital murders and personally starting the office’s White Collar Special Crimes Division, to found a defense practice his son Sam Adamo Jr. now shares — together bringing more than 50 years of combined criminal defense experience to a firm both TBLS-certified and family-run since the 1970s.

At a Glance

Origin and Background

Sam Adamo Sr. was licensed to practice law in Texas in 1968 and spent five years at the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, trying cases ranging from DWIs to capital murders before he was given the assignment of starting the office’s White Collar Special Crimes Division. He left in 1976 to found his own criminal defense practice, and became one of the earliest attorneys recognized as Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. His son, Sam Adamo Jr., joined the practice and now shares the firm’s caseload as a father-son team, with offices in both Houston and Austin.

Practice Concentration

The firm handles the full range of Texas criminal defense work, including DWI and DUI, drug crimes, assault, sex crimes, theft and fraud, white-collar crime, murder, juvenile matters, and federal crimes. See this Houston Criminal Defense directory for how this five-decade, father-son practice compares to other Harris County defense firms. The firm’s white-collar work draws directly on Sam Sr.’s founding role in the DA’s office’s original special crimes division, giving the practice an origin story tied specifically to how Harris County prosecutes financial crime.

Track Record

The firm’s published materials describe a dismissal and not-guilty rate exceeding 40 percent across Sam Adamo Sr.’s career and hundreds of cases taken to trial over five decades, but do not publish an itemized results table with specific case names or figures. This has not been independently re-verified against court dockets by this profile; past results do not guarantee similar outcomes, and every case depends on its own specific facts.

Client Voice

Aggregated Yelp reviews describe Sam Adamo as widely respected among well-connected Houston professionals, with reviewers specifically referencing his standing and DWI trial record as reasons for their confidence in the firm. Awesome Attorneys did not identify a pattern of negative or unresolved reviews warranting disclosure.

Beyond the Courtroom

Sam Adamo Sr.’s role starting the Harris County DA’s White Collar Special Crimes Division before moving to defense work, and the firm’s continuation as a genuine father-son practice spanning two generations since the late 1970s, reflect an institutional history distinct from a typical multi-attorney defense firm.

Recognition

Sam Adamo Sr.’s Board Certification in Criminal Law from the Texas Board of Legal Specialization is the state’s official specialty credential. His AV Preeminent Martindale-Hubbell rating, both attorneys’ Texas Super Lawyers selections, and the firm’s 2018 HCCLA Lifetime Achievement Award are independently administered, peer-conferred distinctions.

Texas Legal Backdrop

A Texas DWI arrest triggers two separate proceedings — the criminal case and a civil Administrative License Revocation case against the driver’s license — with only 15 days from arrest to request the ALR hearing before an automatic suspension takes effect. Separately, Texas felony limitations periods vary by offense under Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 12.01. None of this is legal advice; anyone facing a DWI or other criminal charge should consult a licensed Texas attorney about the specific facts of their case.

Awesome Attorneys Assessment

Adamo & Adamo Law Firm’s clearest, most checkable differentiator is the combination of TBLS Criminal Law board certification with a genuine, five-decade father-son practice history that traces back to Sam Adamo Sr.’s own role founding the Harris County DA’s white-collar crimes division. The honest trade-off: the firm’s published case-results materials describe a career-spanning dismissal rate rather than an itemized, per-case table, so prospective clients should ask which attorney — Sam Sr. or Sam Jr. — would actually handle their matter during a consultation. For someone who wants a Houston defense firm with genuine institutional continuity across generations, that history is a real, checkable differentiator.

Methodology and Sourcing

This profile was researched from Adamo & Adamo Law Firm’s official website (samadamolaw.com), Super Lawyers profile listings, and aggregated third-party review data from Yelp.

Publisher Disclosure and Independence Notice

Awesome Attorneys is an independent legal directory and editorial publication. This profile was not paid for, commissioned, or reviewed by Adamo & Adamo Law Firm prior to publication. Awesome Attorneys may in the future offer sponsored placement products to attorneys and firms, including this one, but sponsorship has no bearing on the editorial content, inclusion, or findings of this profile.