The ISBA Board of Governors met on Thursday, June 8, 2023, and elected Hon. Mark J. Lopez (Ret.) to the underrepresented seat on the Board. Judge Lopez is an active ISBA member for 39 years and past member of the Family Law Section Council, Workers Compensation Section Council, and the Mental Health Law Section Council.

 Judge Lopez recently joined the JAMS family law ADR team in Chicago after a 39-year legal career, including over 22 years of distinguished service in the Child Protection and Domestic Relations divisions of the Cook County Circuit Court. Judge Lopez served, by appointment of the Illinois General Assembly, on the Illinois Family Law Study Committee and contributed to the rewriting of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act as well as the Parentage Act (2016). 

Judge Lopez is a member of the Illinois Judges Association, Illinois Latino Judges Association, and the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois.

He earned his Juris Doctorate degree from Northern Illinois University College of Law, in DeKalb. Judge Lopez earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the University of Illinois at Chicago. His father, Honoratus Lopez, was one of the first Latinos to be admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1956.

Founded in 1877, the Illinois State Bar Association is the premier legal association in the state. As a voluntary organization of more than 28,000 members, the Association aims to assist Illinois lawyers in the practice of law and to promote improvements in the administration of justice.