Amelia M. Adams

A commercial attorney with experience in a variety of industries, Amelia advises businesses as they navigate financial and operational concerns.  She works alongside clients to understand the intricacies of their day-to-day, ensure they have the legal tools required to guide their organizations, and develop creative options for addressing obstacles.  As Counsel to the Firm, she practices in the Firm’s Lexington office with the Bankruptcy & Financial Restructuring and Business Litigation practice groups and contributes to several other groups.

Amelia brings a strong professional background to any engagement.  Prior to joining SKO, Amelia engaged in private law practice with a boutique firm focused in bankruptcy, debtor/creditor relations, and civil litigation, and she served as Judicial Law Clerk to the Honorable Tracey N. Wise, Chief Judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.  She was also a vice president and senior trust officer at a large regional bank, where she worked with estate and trust planning, investments, and banking administration. 

Amelia devotes significant time to serving non-profit organizations, both inside and outside the legal profession, and has years of involvement with board governance, charitable giving, and event management.  She serves on the Kentucky Bar Association Board of Governors and is a Past President of the Fayette County Bar Association and the Junior League of Lexington.  She also previously served as Executive Director of the Kentucky Bar Foundation and IOLTA Fund, which is the statewide charitable arm of the Kentucky Bar Association.  Combined with her other professional endeavors and undergraduate studies in accounting, that service has equipped Amelia to provide valuable advice to both for-profit and non-profit entities.

For her many accomplishments, Amelia has earned a Martindale-Hubbell Distinguished℠ Peer-Review Rating and a Kentucky SuperLawyers® Rising Star designation, and she was named Outstanding Young Lawyer by the Fayette County Bar Association, among other distinctions.

Bankruptcy & Financial Restructuring:  Amelia offers skilled guidance in insolvency situations.  She counsels clients in reorganizations, liquidations, and out-of-court workouts, including debtors and creditors in chapter 7, 11, 12, and 13 bankruptcy cases.  Her clients have included banks, credit unions, and other lenders, physicians, marinas, hemp companies, trucking companies, manufacturers, coal operators, cattle stockyards, commercial landlords, a gas jobber and convenience store operator, a clothing retailer, and a specialty shipping company.

Business Litigation:  Amelia advises clients regarding complex civil disputes and has represented parties in bankruptcy-related adversary proceedings and state and federal court litigation.  Although she is prepared to litigate matters to conclusion where doing so is advisable, Amelia understands that each client and matter involve unique considerations that could make employing alternative dispute resolution strategies more appropriate than continuing litigation, and she uses her training as a mediator to achieve negotiated resolutions.  She works with a team of trial attorneys at SKO that have earned the Firm recognition by Benchmark Litigation as a leading litigation firm in Kentucky.

Business Services:  Utilizing her background in accounting and financial restructuring, Amelia assists business clients with addressing operational concerns.  She reviews commercial contracts and leases, analyzes opportunities for clients to strengthen their positions, and negotiates resolutions when contractual disputes arise.  She also offers insight regarding board governance and best practices, effective internal and external corporate messaging, and non-profit administration.