Wagner Alumnus Adam Younger to Join Manhattan District Attorney’s Office as Assistant District Attorney

Adam Younger (MPA 2017), who recently earned his J.D. from the University of Virginia (UVA) School of Law, is set to join Manhattan District Attorney (D.A.) Alvin Bragg’s office as Assistant D.A. in September 2023. Younger is preparing for his new role with excitement saying, “I want to do justice for victims and their families, as well as suspects, defendants and the public.” While at NYU Wagner, Younger specialized in public policy analysis. A native New Yorker, Younger credits some of the beginnings of his journey in law to NYU Wagner. “I’m grateful to Wagner for all that it’s done for me to get me to this point,” because studying here “inspired me to pursue law and justice,” he says. He makes special mention of Wagner faculty members Nicole Gordon, Tatiana Homonoff, Wilfred Codrington III, and Neil Kleiman, for being superb teachers of difficult material noting they "were patient and engaging; they regularly asked the class during lectures for questions and comments, which ensured that I was never confused nor left behind. And they were humble; they qualified their conclusions when appropriate, telling the class when they didn't know the answer to a question or when there was no right answer." Those lessons underlay an important legal skill such as "the ability to know what you don't know," says Younger. While he was a student at Wagner, he led a team of students evaluating President Obama’s The Opportunity Project, a cross-sector effort designed to expand community access to digital tools and open data for social impact. After graduating from NYU Wagner and before starting law at UVA, Younger interned with the U.S. State Department’s anti-corruption team, at the Manhattan Office of the Appellate Defender, and in the conviction integrity bureau of the Suffolk County, New York, District Attorney’s Office.