Adam Y Zentner

Adam Y. Zentner specializes in high-profile criminal defense in the greater Kansas City area. He also facilitates trust drafting and administration for high-net-worth individuals and families across the United States. In 2023, Adam was honored as a "Top 100 National Trial Lawyer" by the National Trial Lawyer (NTL) committee in Dothan, Alabama. That same year, he also received the "Top 10 Under 40" award from the National Academy of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) in Washington D.C.

Until the summer of 2022, Adam served as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Kansas. During his six-and-a-half years of service, he litigated high-profile and life-sentence cases across the state. Between 2013 and 2019, Adam presented at conferences hosted by the National Attorneys General Training & Research Institute (NAGTRI), the Kansas County and District Attorneys Association (KCDAA), the Topeka Bar Association, and the Kansas Department of Administration, among others.

Appearing before the Supreme Court of Kansas and the Court of Appeals, Adam has successfully argued numerous cases on a range of issues. Several of Adam’s cases have resulted in published opinions establishing important legal precedents.

Adam’s legal achievements are not limited to the courtroom. In 2014, Adam drafted language and testified before the Kansas Legislature in support of House Bill 2442 which created special sentencing rules for high-speed pursuits. Later that same year, Adam testified in support of a section of House Bill 2490 which clarified a defendant’s statutory right to be present at certain stages of trial. HB 2442 and HB 2940 were both signed into law by Governor Sam Brownback.

In 2015, Adam joined the KCDAA’s Best Practices Committee which crafts model policies for law enforcement and prosecutors, and he co-authored a model policy on child sex crime prosecution. He also served on the Attorney General’s in-house Continuing Legal Education Committee for several years.

For over six years he served as a member of the Prosecutor Review Committee, a select group of attorneys from around the state who are highly experienced in prosecuting sex crimes. Each month, these attorneys submit feedback about whether individual cases should be considered for Sexually Violent Predator involuntary commitment proceedings.

Before joining the Attorney General’s Office, he served nearly five years as an Assistant County Attorney in Leavenworth, Kansas. Adam is a graduate of the 2011 class of the University of Kansas School of Law.