Jeff Adachi, one of San Francisco's highest-profile public defenders, is a relentless advocate. Over the course of his 15-year career, Adachi worked his way, case by case, from misdemeanors to homicides to the role of chief attorney, the number-two position in the public defender's office. He developed a reputation as one of the most hard-nosed and aggressive trial lawyers in the office, so when Lam Choi was accused of murdering Cuong Tran, Adachi was well prepared to take on this exceedingly difficult case.

Adachi grew up in Sacramento, where his father was an auto mechanic and his mother a laboratory assistant. He is a fourth-generation Japanese American, whose parents and grandparents were imprisoned in the Japanese internment camps during World War II. This family history had a huge impact on him and was one of the main reasons Adachi decided to become a public defender. He graduated from the University of California at Berkeley and Hastings Law School. He is married and lives in San Francisco with his wife and daughter.