Gov. Jay Inslee appointed Nelson Lee Tuesday to the King County Superior Court.

He replaces Judge Bill Bowman, who was recently appointed by Inslee to the Court of Appeals, Division I. Lee has managed his own law firm in Seattle for the past 10 years where his practice focused on immigration, personal injury, wrongful death and criminal defense cases.

Before founding his firm, Lee & Lee, PS with his wife, Bethany Mito, Lee worked as senior deputy prosecuting attorney for the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for 17 years. There, he served as supervisor of the Special Assault Unit at the Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent and co-chair of the Special Drug Unit. He is a past president of the Asian Bar Association of Washington.

“Nelson has a breadth of experience on a variety of issues, including immigration,” Inslee said in a news release. “His unique, diverse legal background will serve him well. He is also an experienced trial lawyer, and he will be ready to try cases on day one. He will make an excellent addition to the bench.”

Lee received his law degree from the Pepperdine University School of Law in California and his bachelor’s from Boston College.

Bowman served on the King County Superior Court for the past eight years where he was the assistant chief criminal judge, chief judge of the Maleng Regional Justice Center and was the assistant presiding judge. On the court, he presided over criminal, civil, juvenile and family law hearings and trials. He also served as presiding judge on the Black Diamond Municipal Court.