Second Judicial District Court
District Court Judges Directory
Biography: Judge Allison was raised in a small farm community in the middle of Illinois: Lincoln, Illinois, which is said to be the only town named for Abraham Lincoln before he became President of the United States. He worked on a hog farm in the summers, and his family vacationed in northern New Mexico when he was young. It was on those vacations where Judge Allison developed a love for our high desert. He received his bachelor’s degree in History from Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois in 1996 and came to New Mexico in 2000.
After graduating from University of New Mexico School of Law, Judge Allison clerked for then-Chief Justice Edward L. Chávez of the New Mexico Supreme Court. Following his clerkship, he worked as a civil litigator for ten years before taking the bench in April of 2019.
Group: Civil Court Judges
She has worked as a public defender in Albuquerque since 2013, representing indigent individuals in cases ranging from DWI to first-degree murder. She represented clients in dozens of felony jury trials in this role.
She has served on the board of directors of the New Mexico Hispanic Bar Association and is a member of the Hispanic National Bar Association and the New Mexico Women’s Bar Association.
Group: Criminal Court Judges
Biography: Judge Barela-Shepherd has been a District Court Judge since December 2003. She has the unique experience in presiding over both criminal and civil law cases. She currently presides over civil law cases. She previously presided over all phases of criminal law cases ranging from misdemeanor to 1st-Degree felony offenses.
Judge Barela-Shepherd has served as the Chairman of the District Court Security Committee since 2005, which develops and oversees security issues and concerns involving the Court. She was previously appointed by the NM Supreme Court to serve as a member of the Statewide Court Security Committee. Judge Barela-Shepherd is a long-time standing member of the Bench Bar Media Committee, which serves as a liason between the Judiciary and the Media.
Judge Barela-Shepherd is a native New Mexican. She received her high school diploma from Valley High School, her Bachelor of Science in Microbiology from Texas Tech University, and her Juris Doctor from the University of New Mexico.
Group: Civil Court Judges
Biography: Judge Catherine Begaye, a member of the Navajo Nation, is New Mexico’s only Native American District Court judge. Judge Begaye is a graduate of UNM Law School, where she was the Editor in Chief of the New Mexico Law Review and a Dean’s Award recipient for being a student who made outstanding contributions to the law school community.
She worked as a Public Defender representing juveniles and adults in District and Appellate courts. When she went into private practice in 2013, she found her calling in her work with Native families in the abuse and neglect arena.
She is the Chair of the Children’s Court Rules Committee, and a member of the NM Partners.
Group: Children’s Court Judges
Biography: Judge Brickhouse began practicing law in New Mexico in 1993, after graduating from the University of Arizona Law College. She was appointed to be a State District Court Judge in January 2009. She is assigned to the Civil Division and hears a wide variety of cases, including personal injury, employment, breach of contract, civil rights, probate and guardianship, and business disputes. Prior to becoming a judge, Judge Brickhouse practiced as both a civil and criminal litigator for 16 years in New Mexico.
Judge Brickhouse is a member of the New Mexico State Bar, the Albuquerque Bar Association, and the New Mexico Black Lawyers’ Association. She is also the New Mexico Chair for the National Association of Women Judges, and is on the Board of the New Mexico Board of Bar Examiners. She previously served as the Lincoln County Bar Association President and as a Bar Commissioner for the New Mexico State Bar.
She is married, with two children, and resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Group: Civil Court Judges
Group: Family Court Judges
Biography: Judge Lisa Ortega graduated from the University of New Mexico School of Law in 1997 and enjoyed a civil litigation practice for more than twenty years before taking the bench. Her law practice focused on personal injury and wrongful death claims throughout the state including those involving product liability, premises liability, and general negligence.
On March 15, 2019, she was appointed to Division XIII of the Second Judicial District Court by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham. Judge Ortega serves in the Civil Division.
Group: Civil Court Judges
Biography: Judge Bruce Fox received his B.A. from the University of Connecticut and his J.D. from Western New England University. He has been licensed to practice law in New Mexico since 1993, and has spent his entire career working in the courts of New Mexico, the Navajo Nation, and the Pueblo of Laguna.
Before being appointed to District Court in 2021, he was Chief Judge for the Pueblo of Laguna. He was also a New Mexico Public Defender for many years in the Second Judicial District, and spent the early part of his career as a legal aid attorney at DNA Legal Services on the Navajo Nation.
Throughout his career, Judge Fox has worked on developing a better understanding of addiction and behavioral health issues and their impact on the criminal justice system. He is a strong believer in drug courts and mental health courts.
Group: Criminal Court Judges
After law school, Judge Montano worked for the University of Michigan’s Athletic Department as a Compliance Assistant. He was also the Director of Compliance for UNM’s Athletic Department. He worked in the Second Judicial District Attorney’s Office for the past ten years, most recently serving as the Deputy District Attorney managing the General Crimes Felony Trial Division.
Group: Criminal Court Judges
Biography: Judge Moran was appointed to the Criminal Division of the Court in July 2020. She was born in Albuquerque and moved to Las Cruces with her family in the second grade. She left New Mexico to attend college in Maryland, and returned to get her law degree at UNM.
She spent her entire career as a prosecutor, most recently serving as Chief Deputy Attorney General overseeing the Criminal Affairs Division of the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office.
Group: Criminal Court Judges
Biography: Judge O’Connell was appointed to the civil bench in February 2019. She is Co-Chair of the Second Judicial District Court Pro Bono Committee, and is Co-Chair of the New Mexico Supreme Court’s Access to Justice Commission. Judge O’Connell is committed to facilitating and expanding access to civil legal services to New Mexicans in need across Bernalillo County and the State.
Judge O’Connell graduated from the University of New Mexico School of Law. She was a law clerk for two years for Justice Charles W. Daniels of the New Mexico Supreme Court. Following her clerkship, and until appointed to the bench, she was in private practice as a trial and appellate lawyer. Judge O’Connell is an active supporter of the Second Judicial District Court’s judicial clerkship program, which affords law students the opportunity to serve as a law clerk with Judge O’Connell and to experience working with all divisions of the Court.
Group: Civil Court Judges
Biography: Judge Daniel E. Ramczyk practiced law for twenty years, both in the private and government sectors. He was appointed to the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court in 2003 and handled both criminal and civil dockets. He served on several of the specialty courts and was appointed the first Chairperson of the Metropolitan Court Rules Committee in 2006 and served until 2012.
He resigned from Metropolitan Court when he was appointed to the Second Judicial District Court in February 2019, Criminal Division.
Judge Ramczyk graduated from the UNM School of Law in 1983 and was admitted to the New Mexico State Bar later that year.
Group: Civil Court Judges
Biography: Judge Alma Cristina Roberson was born in the border town of El Paso, Texas to immigrant parents from Mexico. She moved to Albuquerque in 2009 to attend the University of New Mexico School of Law. She graduated in 2012 and started soon after as an attorney in the Metro Division of the Law Offices of the Public Defender. In 2015, she moved to the Juvenile Division of LOPD where she found her true passion, working with children and their families.
As part of her advocacy, Judge Roberson served as a board member for Bernalillo County’s Reducing Racism and Ethnic Disparities Committee for two years. Currently, Judge Roberson serves on the Juvenile Drug Treatment Court National Project Advisory Board for the National Association of Drug Court Professionals and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges.
Group: Children’s Court Judges
Biography: Judge Lucy Solimon was born in Lebanon and immigrated to the United States with her parents when she was six years old. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Occidental College and then a second bachelor’s degree in Spanish from UNM.
Since graduating from UNM Law School in 2007, Judge Solimon has worked as both a defense attorney and prosecutor, and has State, Federal, and Administrative court experience.
She started her career in the New Mexico Public Defender’s Office helping indigent clients. She spent some time in private practice, serving diverse clients throughout New Mexico. She later served the Pueblo of Laguna as a Special Assistant US Attorney. At the time of her appointment to the bench in July 2020, Judge Solimon was the Enforcement Bureau Chief and Special Assistant Attorney General for the State of New Mexico.
Group: Criminal Court Judges
Biography: An Albuquerque native, Judge Courtney Weaks graduated from the University of Kansas with a degree in English Literature in 2004. She returned to New Mexico to attend UNM Law School, where she met her husband Jason, and graduated in 2007.
She began her career at the Second Judical District Attorney’s office, prosecuting criminal cases in Metropolitan Court, DWI charges as well as vehicular homicide cases. Judge Weaks then entered private practice where she focused on criminal defense work in addition to practicing family law.
Judge Weaks was elected to the Metropolitan Court Bench in 2014 where she served as the Presiding Judge of Metropolitan Court’s Specialty Court Program as well as the Presiding Judge of the Court’s Behavioral Health Court Program and the Early Intervention Program.
Judge Weaks also serves as an executive of Bernalillo County’s Criminal Justice Coordinating Council’s (BCCJCC) Subcommittee on Reintegration and Reentry. She was elected to the District Court Bench in 2020.
Group: Criminal Court Judges
Biography: Judge Jennifer J. Wernersbach graduated from the University of New Mexico School of Law in 2004 and practiced as a trial lawyer for sixteen years, primarily in the areas of criminal law and civil rights in both state and federal court.
Judge Wernersbach was appointed to the Criminal Court Division of District Court in January 2021.
Group: Criminal Court Judges
