Jeffery Monroe, a partner with the 140-year-old Jones Cork firm in Macon, will become the newest judge on the Bibb County State Court, Gov. Nathan Deal announced Friday.

Monroe will succeed Judge William “Bill” Adams, who retired this summer.

The incoming judge is a business litigator who has handled insurance defense and school system defense across the state. Now 43, Monroe was one of the Daily Report's On the Rise picks for 2013.