Chief Judge Stephen Stobbs of the Third Judicial Circuit announced Wednesday that Emily Johnson Nielsen and Justin S. Zimmerman were selected to fill two associate judge vacancies.
“The circuit court welcomes these two accomplished attorneys to the bench, and stand ready to support them as they begin serving the citizens of Madison and Bond counties,” Stobbs stated in a press release.
Nielsen and Zimmerman were selected by a vote of the Third Judicial Circuit’s nine elected circuit judges - a bench that was transformed in the Nov. 8 election from Democrat stronghold to Republican majority.
They will fill associate judge vacancies created by the retirements of former associate judges Philip Alfeld and Thomas Chapman.
Chapman retired on July 21 after serving nearly 20 years on the bench. Alfeld retired July 5 after serving eight years.
According to a press release, Nielsen has been practicing law for 17 years. She currently serves as Chief of the Civil Division with the Madison County State’s Attorney’s Office.
She received her undergraduate degree in 2002 from Washington University in St. Louis and her juris doctor from Southern Illinois University School of Law in 2005. She previously worked as managing partner of Hunter & Johnson PC in Alton until she began working with State’s Attorney Tom Haine.
Nielsen is a member of the Alton-Wood River Bar Association, the Madison County Bar Association, the Illinois Bar Association and the Missouri Bar.
Zimmerman has been practicing law for 10 years. He currently works as a partner in the Madison County office of the Lewis Brisbois Bisgard & Smith firm.
He received his undergraduate degree in 2009 from Maryville University in St. Louis and his juris doctor from University of Illinois School of Law in 2012.
Zimmerman also serves on the school board for Father McGivney Catholic High School in Glen Carbon. He previously served on the City of Edwardsville Zoning Board of Appeals and represented Madison County as a commissioner on the Bi-State Development Board from 2017 to 2022.