Judge Nina F. Elgo is the first Asian Pacific American judge appointed to the Connecticut Appellate Court and was the first Asian Pacific American judge appointed to the Connecticut Superior Court.

Governor Dannel P. Malloy nominated Judge Elgo to be a judge of the Appellate Court and the General Assembly confirmed her appointment on May 25, 2017.

Prior to her appointment to the Appellate Court, Judge Elgo served as a Superior Court judge since May 5, 2004. In this role, she heard civil matters in the Hartford Judicial District and also served as presiding judge for the Child Protection Session in the Middlesex Judicial District. Additionally, she presided over criminal, juvenile and habeas corpus cases in the Hartford, Tolland and New Haven judicial districts.

Judge Elgo has served on various committees designed to improve the court system. Since 2012, she has served as a member of the Connecticut Bar Examining Committee and previously served on the Rules Committee of the Superior Court. She is a James W. Cooper Life Fellow and serves on the Education and Program Committee of the Connecticut Bar Foundation. For many years, Judge Elgo served on the Committee for Judicial Education and has been a frequent faculty member/facilitator of the Connecticut Judges’ Institute. Additionally, in 2013, Governor Malloy appointed her to represent the Judicial Branch as a member of the Connecticut team selected to participate in the Three Branch Institute on Child Social and Emotional Well-Being Initiative sponsored by the National Governors Association.

Judge Elgo is the recipient of various awards and recognitions. In 2015, Judge Elgo was honored with the Native Daughter of Norwich Award; in 2014, she was the recipient of the CT Asian Pacific American Bar Association Impact Award; and in 2013, Judge Elgo was the recipient of the Edwin Archer Randolph Diversity Award. As the first Asian Pacific American judge in Connecticut, Judge Elgo was honored in 2006 by the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association Women’s Caucus as a “Trailblazer in the Connecticut Judiciary.” She was also a recipient of the 2007 Connecticut Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Section Diversity Award.

Judge Elgo is also a member of the Swift’s Inn, a Bencher Emeritus member of the Oliver Ellsworth Inn of Court and was active for several years with the Connecticut-Pskov Russian American Rule of Law Consortium.

Judge Elgo is a first generation Filipino-American, born in Groton, CT and raised in Norwich, CT. She received her BA from Connecticut College in 1984 and her Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center in 1990. Judge Elgo is married to Attorney Christopher Kriesen and they have a daughter, Caroline.