Christopher P. Yates


Christopher Paul Yates is an American judge in the state of Michigan. He has served as both a trial-level and appellate judge. He was one of Michigan's first business court judges, serving in that role for ten years, and later developing a national presence and influence as a business court judge. Most recently, he was assigned to the specialized Michigan Court of Claims, to deal with litigation involving governmental entities. He served in two prestigious judicial clerkships, has held positions of significance outside of his judgeships, and has received numerous awards as a judge.

Education

Yates received a Bachelor of Arts from Kalamazoo College in 1983. In 1987, he earned a Master of Business Administration from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a Juris Doctor from the University of Illinois College of Law.

Judicial service

In 2008, Michigan Governor Jennifer M. Granholm appointed Yates as a trial level circuit court judge in the 17th Circuit Court, located in Kent County, Michigan. He was subsequently elected as a judge to the Kent County circuit court. As a trial judge, he has presided over civil, criminal, and family law cases.

Business court judge

On March 1, 2012, Yates was the first judge assigned to manage a specialized business court docket pilot project in the Kent County Circuit Court, one of three Michigan county circuit courts designated in 2011 to operate pilot project business courts. As of January 1, 2013, the pilot projects were replaced by a permanent statute-based set of business court dockets in Michigan circuit courts with three or more judges, with Yates contributing to that business court legislation. Yates continued to serve on the Kent County business court docket until early 2022. He authored well over 300 legal opinions as a business court judge.
Yates also has a national presence as a business court judge. In 2024, he began serving a term as president of the American College of Business Court Judges. He is a past co-chair of the American Bar Association's Judges Initiative Committee, and a Business Court Representative to the American Bar Association's Business Law Section. In addition to his hundreds of opinions as a business court judge, he has written on the subject of business courts nationally, as well as in Michigan.

Appellate judge

In 2022, Yates was appointed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer to Michigan's 3rd District Court of Appeals, to replace Judge Jane Beckering. Yates successfully ran for election as a 3rd District appellate judge later that year. He is running for that position again in 2024. Yates has stated his philosophy as an appellate judge to be one of judicial modesty.

Court of claims

In 2013, Michigan's Legislature "created the Court of Claims to resolve major claims against the State of Michigan and its various agencies and personnel." Under that law, Michigan's Supreme Court assigns Michigan court of appeals judges to serve on the Court of Claims. "The judges assigned to the Court of Claims have extensive trial-court experience and bring rich insights and practical skills to trial-case management." It functions as a trial level court, though its cases are filed in the court of appeals.
As of January 15, 2024, Yates was assigned by Michigan's Supreme Court to sit as a judge on the Court of Claims for a period covering the remainder of his term as a court of appeals judge, ending on May 1, 2025.

Judicial law clerk

Yates served as a judicial law clerk to Chief Judge James P. Churchill of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan and to Judge Ralph B. Guy Jr., of the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit">Michigan Court of Appeals">Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

Legal practice

As a lawyer, Yates was hired by Stephen J. Markman to work as a federal prosecutor in the United States Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Michigan, located in Detroit, Michigan; was an attorney-advisor in the Office of Legal Counsel at the United States Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.; was a Federal public defender for the Western District of Michigan from 1997 to March 2004 ; and as a private attorney, he was a partner in two law firms in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Awards and honors

In 2022, Yates received the Judicial Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Board of Trial Advocates. It is awarded to judges "who have given many years of judicial service. Through their Decisions, they have exemplified the level of professionalism and integrity that uphold the best traditions of the bench."
In 2020, Yates received the Judicial Award from the Michigan Defense Trial Counsel. The award "was established to recognize judges who have demonstrated the highest standards of judicial excellence in the pursuit of justice, while exemplifying courtesy, integrity, wisdom, and impartiality. It is awarded to judges who best exemplify that which brings honor, esteem, and respect to the practice of law."
In 2019, he received the Hilda Gage Judicial Excellence Award from the Michigan Judges Association. This award "recognizes a sitting or retired circuit or court of appeals judge that has demonstrated competence in docket and trial management, and who has made contributions to the legal profession through legal scholarship and community service."
Yates is a four-time inductee into the Kalamazoo College Athletic Hall of Fame as a tennis player on the college's 1980-1983 tennis teams.

Positions

Yates has held the following positions, among others:
  • President, American College of Business Court Judges
  • Chair, State Bar of Michigan's Business Law Section
  • President, Michigan Judges Association
  • Co-chair, American Bar Association's Judges Initiative Committee
  • President, Grand Rapids Bar Association
  • Member, Michigan Supreme Court Committee on Model Civil Jury Instructions.

    Publications

Yates is an author, co-author, or editor of the following publications, among others:
  • The ABA's Contribution to the Development of Business Courts in the United States
  • The Business Courts Benchbook
  • Michigan Civil Procedure, Third Edition
  • The Rule of Law: A View from the Appellate Bench
  • ''Going on Record: The Perils of Discussing Criminal History During the Presentence Interview''