Forty Under 40: Stacey A. Zimmerman

Stacey A. Zimmerman, 36, decided early that she wanted to practice law. “I was in the seventh or eighth grade when I discovered people who liked to argue could become lawyers,” she says.

She’s been in a hurry. After growing up in New Mexico and Texas, Zimmerman finished her undergraduate degree in agricultural economics at Texas Tech University in just two and a half years. Then, because she couldn’t enter law school at mid-term, she began work on a master’s degree. She completed the master’s, also in agricultural economics, and her law degree in December 1986 and then moved to Fayetteville where she earned a master of laws degree in agricultural law from the University of Arkansas School of Law.

Zimmerman began volunteer work representing children in juvenile court and found she liked it. “I really enjoyed it and I thought it was extremely worthwhile.”

Zimmerman then had a seven-year stint as prosecutor in Washington County Juvenile Court. Surprisingly, some of the children she met through court appearances were grateful for their encounters.

“I had kids I had really prosecuted and prosecuted hard … say ‘I’m really glad you came down on me.'”

Zimmerman tries to remember to have a positive outlook and to keep a sense of humor. Ultimately, she believes helping one child is an accomplishment. “Then I feel that I’ve done my job, and I’ve helped not only the kid, but the community as well.”