Honorable Robert E. Byrne

Former Presiding Judge of the Illinois Appellate Court, Second District

Honorable Robert E. Byrne was elected Presiding Justice of the Illinois Appellate Court, Second District, in 2007. He began his assignment by the Illinois Supreme Court as Second Appellate District Justice in 2001. From 1986 to 2001 he served in the 18th Judicial Circuit for DuPage County, starting as Associate Judge, and then as a Circuit Judge presiding in the Domestic Relations Division before moving on to act as Probate Judge and Presiding Judge of the Chancery Division for five years. In this latter position, he founded and was the first Supervising Judge for the DuPage County Court Annexed Mandatory Arbitration Program. He also established the Court Friends—Guardian Monitor Program serving disabled adults in the Probate Court. Judge Byrne was selected by the Illinois Supreme Court to be Chair of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Coordinating Committee of the Illinois Judicial Conference from 1997 to 2000 and Chair of the Automation and Court Technology Committee in 2003, a position he currently holds. He is a frequent lecturer at DuPage, Chicago and Illinois State Bar Seminars and a frequent author and lecturer in the United States and Europe on the subjects of court management and alternative dispute resolution. He retired from the bench in July 2008.