Justice Lisa Holder White of the Supreme Court of Illinois is a Decatur, Illinois, native, the daughter of Marvin and Corinne Holder. Judge White earned her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois College of Law in Urbana-Champaign in 1993.

Her first legal position was as an Assistant State’s Attorney for Macon County. Later she worked as an Assistant Public Defender. After gaining experience in the criminal justice system, Justice White enjoyed a thriving practice at the Decatur law firm then known as Brinkoetter & White. She was chosen as an Associate Judge in 2001, becoming the first Black Judge in the Sixth Judicial Circuit. In 2008, the Illinois Supreme Court appointed her Circuit Judge to fill a retirement vacancy and in 2010, she was elected to the position. Again selected to fill a vacancy, Justice White was sworn in as the first Black member of the Illinois Appellate Court, Fourth District on January 14, 2013. In 2014, she was elected to a full term on the appellate court. On July 7, 2022, Justice White was sworn in as a Justice on the Illinois Supreme Court, the first Black woman to hold this position.

A committed leader in the legal profession, Justice White is a member of the Decatur Bar Association, the Sangamon County Bar Association, and the Central Illinois Women’s Bar Association. She currently serves on the University of Illinois College of Law Leadership Project, and as co-chair of the Juvenile Justice Leadership Council. In her role as a justice of the Illinois Supreme Court, she is the court’s liaison to the Illinois Judicial College, the Appellate Court Administrative Committee, the Supreme Court Committee on Illinois Evidence, and the Judicial Mentor Committee.

She has received numerous awards for her accomplishments and service. In 2013, the Decatur YMCA and the United Way of Decatur and Mid-Illinois named Justice White their “Woman of the Year.” She has also received the Lewis University Alumni Achievement Award, the Joe Slaw Civil Rights Award from the Decatur branch of the NAACP, the Illinois Jaycees Ten Outstanding Young Persons Award, the James Seaberry Award for Excellence from the University of Illinois College of Law Black Law Students Association, the Illinois Judicial Council Charles Freeman Pioneer in Justice Award, the Illinois Judges Association Harold Sullivan Award, the Girl Scouts of Central Illinois Diamond Award, and the Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Judicial Achievement Award. Justice White has been awarded an honorary doctorate degree from Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois.

Justice White is a member of Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, where she serves on the Culinary Committee and enjoys singing in the choir. She and James, her husband of thirty-six years, are the proud parents of Brett and Myah.