Chief Justice David K Thomson

Chief Justice David K. Thomson took the oath of office on February 4, 2019, following his selection by the nonpartisan Judicial Nominating Commission and his appointment by the Governor to the New Mexico Supreme Court. He was sworn in as Chief Justice on April 17, 2024, where he will serve a two-year term. Prior to his appointment, Chief Justice Thomson served as a State Trial Judge in the First Judicial District, overseeing a civil docket in excess of 1000 cases. He is a leader in judicial education and efforts to increase diversity in judicial clerkships and advance technology in the courts. In 2019, he founded a diversity clerkship program with the New Mexico State Bar Association, which has resulted in increased post-graduation clerkship opportunities within New Mexico’s Appellate Courts. He has also successfully launched an annual “Rule of Law Program” where schools and students in New Mexico are given the opportunity to view oral arguments, ask questions about a case, and gain an understanding of the judiciary’s role in state government.

Chief Justice Thomson was born and raised in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and is a graduate of Santa Fe High School. He has an undergraduate degree in Economics and Government from Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut. Before law school, he worked for U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman. He received his juris doctorate from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law in 1998. Following law school, Chief Justice Thomson began his career as a term law clerk for U.S. District Justice Bruce D. Black, District of New Mexico. After his clerkship, he joined the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office as a litigation attorney, eventually serving as Deputy Attorney General. In this role, he advocated on behalf of the citizens of New Mexico before State and Federal courts. Prior to taking the bench in 2015, Justice Thomson was a sole practitioner, admitted to appear in State and Federal courts, including the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court.

Chief Justice Thomson heads the (CEI) judicial education program in New Mexico. He teaches legal education courses on a number of topics, including trial practice, the use of special masters, judicial ethics, evidence, and appellate practice. Chief Justice Thomson serves on the Executive Committee of the American Bar Association Judicial Division Appellate Judges Conference and Appellate Judges Education Institute.

He is also an AJC Delegate to the American Bar Association House of Delegates. Justice Thomson authored the article Constitutional Long Haulers: The Undiagnosed Long-Term Impact of Judicial Review on Emergency Public Health Orders, which appeared in the American Bar Association Judge’s Journal. He has recently presented on the role of Amicus Curiae in matters before the federal and state appellate courts. This past year, his peers nominated him join the American Law Institute.

Justice Michael E. Vigil

Justice Michael E. Vigil currently serves as the Senior Justice on the New Mexico Supreme Court. He previously served as Chief Justice from July, 15, 2020 until April 13, 2022. Justice Vigil was elected to the high court in the November 8, 2018 general election, and was sworn into office on December 31, 2018.

He previously served on the New Mexico Court of Appeals for fifteen years, where he also served as Chief Judge from 2015 to 2017. Prior to his service in the judiciary, Justice Vigil practiced law for over 27 years.

Justice C. Shannon Bacon

Justice C. Shannon Bacon was appointed to the New Mexico Supreme Court on January 25, 2019, after being recommended by a bi-partisan Judicial Nominating Commission. She took the oath of office on February 4, 2019.  From 2022 to 2024, Justice Bacon served as the Chief Justice.

Justice Bacon currently serves as the vice-chair on the Conference of Chief Justices and Conference of State Court Administrators (“CCJ and COSCA”)  Committee on Legal Education and Admissions Reform (“CLEAR”), serves on the National Conference of Bar Examiners’ Justices Advisory Group,  the New Mexico Supreme Court’s Equity and Justice Commission, the New Mexico Access to Justice Commission, the New Mexico Working Interdisciplinary Networks of Guardianship Stakeholders, the New Mexico Supreme Court’s Allied Professionals and Alternatives to the Bar Exam Committees, and the National Judicial College Dividing the Waters Board. She is also an adjunct professor at the University of New Mexico School of Law.

Prior to her appointment, Justice Bacon served as a district court judge on the Second Judicial District Court and as the Presiding Civil Judge.  While serving on the district court, she presided over thousands of cases including complex civil litigation, class actions, adult guardianship and conservatorship cases, real estate and contract disputes, election issues, domestic and children’s court cases, and appeals.  Justice Bacon was also the Bernalillo County Water and Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District Judge.

In addition, Justice Bacon has served on numerous commissions and committees:  the New Mexico Supreme Court Adult Guardianship and Conservatorship Steering Committee and Rules Committee (Chair), the Access to Justice Commission, the Bernalillo County Pro Bono Committee (Co-chair), the Supreme Court Personnel Rules Committee (Chair), the Supreme Court Rules of Evidence Committee (Chair), and the District and Metropolitan Judges Association (President).  Justice Bacon also served on non-profit boards that address the needs of youth experiencing homelessness for more than a decade.

Justice Bacon has been honored for her work and is the recipient of the 2022 Albuquerque Bar Association’s Distinguished Service Award, the 2020 Felipe Quintana Memorial Award of Excellence, and the 2015 Albuquerque Bar Association’s Outstanding Judge Award.  She was is also named the 2024 New Mexico Woman of the Year by USA Today.

Justice Julie J. Vargas

Justice Julie J. Vargas was appointed to the New Mexico Supreme Court in December 2020 by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, after serving for four years on the New Mexico Court of Appeals. While serving on the Court of Appeals, Justice Vargas was the co-chair of the Advisory Committee on the Code of Judicial Conduct. Before joining the Court of Appeals, Justice Vargas spent 23 years in private practice representing clients in business and real estate litigation matters. During her years in private practice, she served as co-chair of the State Bar’s Ethics Advisory Committee, and was a member of both the Disciplinary Board, and the Board of Bar Commissioners. Justice Vargas is a 1990 graduate of Brown University, receiving a degree in History and English Literature. She received her J.D. from the University of New Mexico in 1993, where she was an editor of the New Mexico Law Review. She has served on the Board of Directors for the New Mexico Museum of Natural History Foundation, volunteered for the Run for the Zoo, and rappelled down a 16-story building to raise money for Special Olympics.

Justice Briana H. Zamora

As a dedicated public servant, Justice Briana Zamora has served at all levels of the judiciary. She began her judicial career when she was appointed to the Metropolitan Court bench in 2008. Four years later, she was elected to the Bernalillo County District Court. As a trial judge, she spent a decade presiding almost exclusively over adult criminal cases. She also presided over various treatment courts, including Homeless Court, the Native American Healing to Wellness Court and the Courts to School program. In 2018, she was elected to the Court of Appeals where she authored opinions in all areas of the law. Justice Zamora was then appointed to the New Mexico Supreme Court after being nominated by a bi-partisan Judicial Nominating Commission.

As a Justice, she is the liaison to several commissions, including the Children’s Court Improvement Commission, the Children’s Court Judges Association, the Tribal-State Judicial Consortium and the Commission on Mental Health and Competency. She serves on the Executive Board for the American Bar Association’s Appellate Judges Conference. In 2023, she was selected as a Council of State Governments’ Henry Toll Fellow. 

Prior to taking the bench, Justice Zamora worked as a litigator for the State of New Mexico in several capacities. Then, she was recruited to join the law firm of Butt, Thornton & Baehr as an attorney litigating a broad range of civil cases, including workers compensation, insurance coverage and personal injury. Prior to being appointed to the bench, she founded the Zamora Law Firm where she managed the law firm and litigated criminal and civil cases. She also represented abused and neglected children as their guardian ad litem.

Justice Zamora was born, raised, and educated in New Mexico and she is now raising her children in Albuquerque. She is a graduate of New Mexico State University where she received degrees in Government and Psychology. She graduated in 2000 from the University of New Mexico School of Law. She was the recipient of the Frederick M. Hart Award in Commercial Law and recognized for Honors in Clinical Law.