Judge Robert E. Newton was born in 1964. He graduated from Lexington High School in 1982, and then attended the University of South Carolina where he received a Bachelor of Science Degree, cum laude, in Finance in 1986. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Beta Gamma Sigma. Judge Newton received his Juris Doctorate from the University of South Carolina School of Law in December, 1988.

After graduating from law school, Judge Newton entered private practice in Lexington, South Carolina, where he had a litigation intensive practice with a primary focus in the family courts of South Carolina. He was a member of the South Carolina Association for Justice and served a term on its Board of Governors. He served on the executive committee of the Lexington County Bar Association and was President of the Lexington County Bar in 2006. He served as a member of the Dispute Resolution Section Council of the S.C. Bar and the S.C. Bar Resolution of Fee Dispute Board. He was active in various School Improvement Councils and public service committees, as well.

In the later years of his private practice, Judge Newton narrowed his practice to the mediation and arbitration of family court cases throughout the state. On May 23, 2012, he was elected by the General Assembly to the Family Court Bench for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, Seat 3.

Judge Newton is married and has one child.