Bench & Bar January/February 2026

Amelia “Mikki” Franklin Adams, of Louisville, Ky., and Cape May, NJ, a long-time KYLAP volunteer and one of the original supporters of Lawyers Helping Lawyers, passed away peacefully on October 14, 2025, surrounded by her beloved family and friends. Mikki graduated from the University of Kentucky and earned her J.D. from the University of Louisville Louis D. Brandeis School of Law in 1974. She began her career as a public defender and later moved into private practice. Throughout her life, she remained committed to pro bono legal work, offering her time and expertise to those most in need. She took cases others wouldn’t, because it was the right thing to do. She retired from law in February 2025, after decades of tireless service. A fierce advocate for justice, Mikki lived by the principles of her faith tradition - the belief in “repairing the world” through social action and compassion. Throughout her career, Mikki championed civil liberties, civil rights, women’s rights, and reproductive freedom. Whatever she undertook, she did wholeheartedly. In 1973, Mikki married fellow Kentucky lawyer Wesley Price Adams, Jr. Together they shared 37 years of love, partnership, and purpose filled IN MEMORIAM: AMELIA "MIKKI" ADAMS , EARLY KYLAP VOLUNTEER AND ORIGINAL SUPPORTER OF LAWYERS HELPING LAWYERS

with travel, friendship, a household of pets, and deep devotion to one another. Both devotedly supported Lawyers Helping Lawyers and then Kentucky Lawyer Assistance Program. Mikki and Wes were adventurers at heart, trekking to see mountain gorillas in the Congo and orangutans in Borneo.

Mikki’s passions extended far beyond the courtroom. She was an avid gardener, a skilled baker, an expert beach bum, a warm entertainer, and a self-declared “professional napper.” With her sharp wit and infectious humor, she was, as many would agree, a comedian at heart. Mikki was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Wesley Adams, and leaves behind her daughter, Jennifer Adams Mancuso, and trea sured grandchildren who will forever hold their beloved “Bubbe” close in their hearts. In keeping with her generous spirit and love for animals, Mikki’s pacemaker will be donated to the Purdue University Veterinary Program to help a dog in need—one final act of compassion from a life devoted to caring for others. Her quick wit and her unlimited capacity for service will be dearly missed.

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