Paul Adams loves being a lawyer.

Adams retired as a Covington County Assistant District Attorney recently to start up the newest law firm in the City of Opportunity.

Adams Law Firm LLC. already held a soft opening. A ribbon cutting is set for Friday at 11 a.m. with the grand opening at 1 p.m.

The Opp lawyer started working in the district attorney’s office in 2007. Adams prosecuted misdemeanor and felony cases, monitored court cost payments, civil forfeitures and much of the paper work on different cease cases.

Adams, 55, said he wanted to start a law firm in Opp to branch out a bit.

“I had been over there for a while, and I just felt like I wanted to branch out and do some different things,” he said. “I also have family who have health problems, and I wanted to be able to be free in case something happened. Of course, we did have leave time (in the district attorney’s office), but it wasn’t like you could drop everything then and cut loose.

“My mom is terminally ill with lung cancer,” he said. “She lives in Opp, and I could get there real quick from my office.”

Adams does criminal defense, driving under the influence, family law, probate law and will probably start doing real estate law at his firm.

Being a lawyer is Adams’ second occupation.

Adams was a firefighter at the Opp Fire Department for 12 years before having to take a medical retirement because of some severe vision problems, which kept him from driving emergency vehicles.

Before he left the OFD, Adams said he had been involved in a few arson cases, and from there, his love of the law began.

“When I had to take a medical retirement, I started to check into the possibility of going back to school,” he said. “I didn’t have a bachelor’s (degree) so I had to start over. I started back at age 40.”

Adams went to LBWCC for two years, then transferred to Troy University. He went to law school at the Thomas Goode Jones School of Law at Faulkner University in Montgomery.

He’s been a lawyer since 2006.

“I’ve always loved it,” he said.

Adams Law Firm LLC. is open from Monday through Wednesday, 9 a.m. until noon, and from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m.; Thursday from 9 a.m. until noon; and on Friday from 9 a.m. until noon, and from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m.

Adams likes being a lawyer because it affords him the opportunity to help others at their time of need.

“You feel like you’re helping people at a time when they need it the most,” he said. “We’ve got so many rules and regulations and laws nowadays that we have to constantly go back for continual education to stay up to date on them.

“The average person, they’re just overwhelmed a lot of times,” he said. “They come in and sit down and I talk with them and I help them through their situation. I’ve been in some type of public service most of my adult life. To me, this is just a continuation of that. It’s just a different perspective.”

Adams is married to Patricia, and the couple has one step daughter, Elisa.