User:Wendy231/Adam D. Ford

Biography
Adam Douglas Ford was born on May 2, 1972 in LDS Hospital near the Utah State Capitol. He was the second of an eventual nine children. Adam’s early years were spent in BYU married housing as his father finished his degree. After kindergarten at Provost Elementary School in Provo, the family moved to Mapleton where Adam graduated from Mapleton Elementary School and Springville High School. In high school, Adam participated in track, cross-country, performance choirs and debate. He was the Reagan-Republican bane of his Roosevelt-Democrat history and government teacher Mr. Bird.

Career and Education
After graduation in 1990, Adam attended. He still recalls the Ty Detmer-led football victory over the number 1 ranked Miami Hurricanes during his freshman year as one of the highlights of his life. He remembers storming the field and joining the spontaneous singing of the fight anthem “Rise and Shout.”

After his freshman year at BYU, Adam served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Tennessee. Adam’s Mission President, Serge Woodruff, a former banking executive from southern California, asked Adam to become his assistant and spend the last seven months of his mission training other missionaries to more effectively accomplish the work. Adam loved his mission experience and counts it as one of the great blessings in his life.

After summer term and fall semester back at BYU in 1993, Adam joined a study abroad to Moscow, Russia in the winter of 1994. Fortuitously, a BYU senior in Russian and Psychology from Minnesota, Shaleen Smith, also decided to take the journey. After spending most waking moments together (literally) from January through May, Adam surprised Shaleen with a trip to St. Petersburg. On the shores of the lake behind Catherine the Great’s summer palace, Adam proposed marriage. Shaleen’s eyes filled with tears and Adam stood to giver her a hug. “Do you want and answer right now?” Shaleen asked. “That would be nice.” Adam responded. “Then get back down on your knees!” She said yes. Shaleen finished a masters degree in Teaching English as a Second Language while Adam completed an Honors Thesis on Religious Freedom in post-Soviet Russia. While expecting their first daughter Sariah Marie, Shaleen and Adam went back to Moscow to finish research into the Russian regional laws on religious freedom. Adam graduated from BYU with University Honors in 1996.

Adam next joined the Utah National Guard and was whisked away to basic training at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri, where he was given a company leadership award. While Adam wouldn’t wish drill sergeants on anyone, he found great satisfaction in learning to work with such a diverse group of young men towards a single goal. He gained a great appreciation of the armed forces and the sacrifices made by America’s soldiers. After basic training, Adam attended and graduated from the Arabic Basic Course at the Defense Language Institute in Monterrey California, and there became the father of Hannah Rebekah in 1998.

In 1999 Adam began law school at Duke University. During his tenure at Duke, Adam edited the Practicing Law Institute publication “Structured Finance: A Guide to Asset Securitization,” co-founded the Duke Law and Technology Review, worked for the Duke Office of Science and Technology developing joint-ventures between Duke Medical Center and private-sector companies, became a hard-core Cameron Crazie, and became the father of Rachel Wyoria. Adam joined in the bonfire celebrations after Shane Battier lead Duke to the national championship in 2001. The Sports Illustrated special commemorative edition has an article on the Cameron Crazies and Adam’s screaming face can be seen between Carolina center Brendon Hayward’s elbow and head as he shoots a free-throw.

Life after Education
After graduating from Duke, Adam worked for one of the oldest and most prestigious firms in New York, Shearman & Sterling, and one of the largest corporate law firms in America, McDermott Will & Emery. His first assignment was assisting KPMG in the purchase of certain Arthur Anderson offices. Adam also represented Parmalat USA Corp., Motels of America LLC, RP McCoy Apparel Ltd., Texfi Industries Inc., and HCA Genesis Inc. as debtor’s counsel in corporate bankruptcy filings. He assisted Enron investors seeking recovery. Adam represented Intelsat Ltd. as a major creditor of MCI/Worldcom, Nord LB as the largest secured creditor of Speigel/Eddie Bauer, and Cho Hung Bank as the largest secured creditor of SK Global America. Adam also represented Merrill Lynch, Bank of America, General Electric, Wachovia Bank, Rhodes Furniture, Cobb County Georgia, Lenzing AG, IDT Corporation, France Telecom and many other clients in various corporate and/or litigation matters. Adam gained amazing legal and business experience in New York.

The September 11 Tragedy
On September 11, 2001 Adam was in North Carolina visiting Duke while his family was at their home in New York City. Adam wasn’t able to get home for two days, coming in by car. He will never forget the smell and the smoke and the scar in the landscape. Sariah’s public school held an assembly soon thereafter where each class paraded papier-mâché symbols of America (eagle head, Uncle Sam, statue of liberty, etc) while singing patriotic songs. Some parents wore Sikh or Muslim head coverings, some spoke Serbo-Croatian or Greek or Spanish, but all stood together in grief and love for America. Sariah was the only blonde girl in her grade (literally). Her school helped heal the wounds of the community.

Married Life
He soon married Shaleen after a long relationship. Shaleen gave birth to the couple’s first son in Manhattan on a hot summer day in 2003. Mom, Dad and Willard Washington took a cab home from the hospital. The Pakistani cab driver consented to holding young Mr. Willard for a photograph in front of his cab. Adam enjoyed serving as the mission leader of their small church branch and the family hosted Sunday evening meetings each week. After attending a number of Mets and Yankee games, Adam couldn’t resist the allure of history and became a Yankees fan. Saturday morning runs in Central Park lead to Adam running the New York City Marathon in 2003. Shaleen and the kids would spend the summers and holidays in Utah or Minnesota and Adam would get away from the desk when he could.

In the fall of 2004 Shaleen told Adam she had a strong feeling that there were “multiple sons waiting to come to our family.” Adam initially resisted, but a strong prompting soon changed his mind. Shaleen was expecting within weeks. When the doctor told Shaleen that twins were on the way, Adam and Shaleen decided that family help would be needed. It was time to relocate to Utah. Eschewing opportunities to join the larger Salt Lake firms, Adam decided to start his own law firm. A few partners have come and gone (and come again). Ford & Huff LC now has over 25 attorneys with offices in Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, and New York City. Adam’s practice focuses on civil litigation, including asset protection and bankruptcy litigation. His Utah clients appreciate his skill and perspective gained during his years on Wall Street.

Politics
Adam ran for the Utah State Senate in District 11 in 2006 as a conservative Democrat. He garnered 36% of the vote—a ten year high for a Democrat in conservative Utah County.