The Tax Court has one judge who must be a citizen of Indiana and have been admitted to the practice of law in Indiana for a period of five years. The initial appointment is made by the Governor, who makes the appointment from a panel of three persons nominated by the Judicial Nominating Commission.
The initial term of the Judge is until the general election following the expiration of two years from the effective date of the initial appointment. The Judge is then approved or rejected for an additional ten-year term in the same manner as are Justices of the Supreme Court. The Judge of the Tax Court is paid the same salary and receives the same benefits as a Judge of the Court of Appeals. Historical Listing of Tax Court Judges
Hon. Justin L. McAdam
Justin L. McAdam is the third judge to serve on the Indiana Tax Court since its creation in 1986, following Judge Thomas G. Fisher and Judge Martha Blood Wentworth. He was appointed by Governor Eric J. Holcomb and took the bench on September 1, 2023.
Judge McAdam was born in San Diego, California, and lived in Florida and Colorado before his family eventually settled in Terre Haute, Indiana, in 1992. After graduating from Terre Haute North Vigo High School, he began his college career studying mathematics at Purdue University. He later transferred to Indiana University, where he earned Bachelor of Arts degrees in economics and political science in 2005, graduating Phi Beta Kappa with highest distinction.
After college, Judge McAdam was awarded a Governor’s Fellowship by Governor Mitch Daniels, during which he focused on education policy as part of the governor’s policy team. He then spent two years as a member of the Indiana State Budget Agency working on education finance policy.
In 2011, Judge McAdam earned his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School and returned home to Indiana to serve as a judicial law clerk to Justice Brent E. Dickson of the Indiana Supreme Court.
Following the clerkship, Judge McAdam joined The Bopp Law Firm, PC, in Terre Haute, where he specialized in First Amendment and campaign finance law, advising primarily nonprofit clients and representing them in state and federal courts across the country.
Before his appointment to the Tax Court, he served as Deputy Director and Chief Legal Counsel of the Indiana Office of Management & Budget, helping to lead Indiana’s tax and fiscal policy. He also served as the chair of the Indiana Distressed Unit Appeal Board and the Indiana Board for Depositories and as a trustee of the Indiana Public Retirement System and the Next Level Indiana Trust Fund.
Throughout his career, Judge McAdam has volunteered to serve his community in a variety of ways. Within the profession, he is a past chair of the Indiana State Bar Association’s Tax Section and currently serves on the executive committee of the Indianapolis Bar Association’s Tax Section. He serves on several committees established by the Indiana Supreme Court to enhance Indiana’s justice system and improve its courts, including the Innovation Committee and the Records Access and Management Committee. He has also sat as a judge pro tempore in Marion County, broadening his judicial experience by hearing matters outside the Tax Court’s specialized jurisdiction.
Closer to home, Judge McAdam welcomes every opportunity to speak to students about the law, the Constitution, and the judicial branch, both in the classroom and as a judge for Indiana’s We the People competition. An avid chess player, he has also founded multiple youth chess clubs throughout central Indiana, and he and his wife have served as a Big Couple for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana. His community activities have also included serving on the board of directors for his local school district’s education foundation and holding various leadership roles for his church.
Judge McAdam and his wife reside in Hendricks County with their four children.
