The Honourable David Yates SC was a Judge of the Federal Court of Australia for 15 years until his retirement on 30 November 2024.
During his time on the Court, he was one of the National Coordinating Judges in the Intellectual Property NPA and, for a number of years, one of the Court’s National Appeals Coordinating Judges. Throughout his appointment, he was one of the Court’s Corporations (later, Commercial and Corporations) Duty Judges. He was also a Deputy President of the Australian Competition Tribunal (25 August 2016 to 24 August 2021).
As a Judge, he sat on cases at first instance and on appeal across the Court’s broad jurisdiction, with a particular focus on intellectual property law, consumer protection law, corporations law, competition law, and general commercial law. He presided over a number of significant class actions and regulatory actions.
Prior to his appointment to the Federal Court, he practised as a solicitor from July 1977 until he was called to the Bar in June 1982. At the Bar, he practised mainly in intellectual property law, competition law, and general commercial law. He was appointed as Senior Counsel in 1997. He is the original author of the commentary and precedents in the section on Intellectual Property in Federal Civil Litigation Precedents published by LexisNexis.
David Yates practises as a barrister in a general advisory role, and as a mediator and referee.
