Judicial Experience

Former State District Judge Carlos Lopez was appointed to the 116th District Court in September 2000 after having presided over County Court at Law No. 2 since 1996. Lopez was re-elected to County and District Court in 1996, 1998 and 2002 and served until returning to private practice after seven years on the bench. While a Presiding Judge, Lopez consistently received extremely high ratings in bar polls from attorneys that appeared before him.

Professional Information

Private Practice (July 2004 to present)

• Dispute resolution practice includes arbitration of employment disputes, partnership dissolutions and breaches of contract in ad hoc, AAA and AHLA arbitrations as well as mediation of hundreds of commercial and tort cases with over 85% success rate. Can mediate and arbitrate in Spanish as well as English. Currently learning Portuguese.


• Civil litigation practice: representative matters include counsel for Plaintiff in District Court in large commercial/trade secret theft case; counsel for real estate partnership entities seeking reinstatement of a $35 million jury verdict; counsel for real estate partnership entities attempting to terminate partnership; counsel for wrongly terminated partner in automobile finance partnership.


• Appointed as Special Master by Dallas County District Judge to apportion the proceeds of a mass settlement among more than 50 claimants.


• Appointed as Settlement Special Master by Indiana Superior Court to apportion the proceeds of a mass settlement among more than four thousand Zyprexa claimants.

• Responsible for all facets of trial and pre-trial litigation on behalf of plaintiffs in numerous mesothelioma asbestos cases.

• Presiding Judge of District Court with unlimited general civil jurisdiction. Overall approval rating of 89% ranked 2nd highest out of all 28 Judges with civil jurisdiction.

• Presiding Judge of a Statutory County Court with general civil jurisdiction. Overall approval rating of 90% ranked 1st out of all County Courts and 3rd highest of all 27 Judges with Civil jurisdiction.

• Governmental and public policy practice representing governmental and administrative bodies as well as clients in matters before governmental bodies and administrative agencies. Created a Tax Increment Finance district for local municipality for development of upscale mall as well as coordinating all interaction between the developer and the municipality.

• Extensive jury and bench trial, motions and hearings experience in County and District Courts. First chair responsibility for all trials from Voir Dire through verdict and judgment.

• SMU School Of Law, Dallas, Texas, Merit Scholar, Juris Doctor Degree, conferred May 1991
• Southern Methodist University, B.A. Economics, May 1988; Anthropology Minor, May 1988
• Cistercian Prep School, Irving, Texas, May 1984

Current or Past Professional Accomplishments and Associations

• Member of American Arbitration Association national panel for Large/Complex Cases, Construction Cases and Employment cases
• Member--Board of Trustees for Institute for Transnational Arbitration
• Member of the Texas Supreme Court Advisory Committee
• Appointed Rule 11 Judge for all Firestone/Bridgestone "rollover" cases I 34 County Region
• Visiting Faculty of Emory School of Law Trial Techniques Program
• Elected 2000 Judge of the Year by Dallas Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA)
• Panelist on Proper Use of Expert Witnesses at 2003 State Bar Civil Litigation program
• Chosen by Mexico for program for US Hispanic leaders to meet Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo
• United States-German Marshall Memorial Fund Fellow
• Member--American Bar Association, Dispute Resolution, Litigation and International Law Sections
• State Bar of Texas ADR, Litigation, International Law Sections and Rules of Evidence committee
• Admitted to Bar of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas
• Trustee of Dallas Area Young Lawyers (DAYL) Foundation, Fellow--Texas Bar Foundation
• Member--American Judges Association, Federal Bar Association
• Member--Dallas Bar Association, Business Litigation and International Law Sections
• Member--Hispanic National Bar Association, Dallas Hispanic Bar Association
• Member--Mensa

Judge Lopez and his wife, Ruth, have been married for eight years and are the proud parents of Nicolas (6) and Lucas (2).

Judge Lopez is completely fluent in spoken and written Spanish and is currently learning Portuguese.