Christopher S Yates

Chris Yates, former Global Co-Chair of the firm’s Antitrust & Competition Practice, litigates precedent-setting cases across the US, with particular focus on monopolization and sports antitrust litigation.

One of the few repeat American Lawyer Litigator of the Week winners and hailed by the press as an "elite attorney" and one of “the most celebrated sports litigators in America”, Chris leverages more than three decades experience at the forefront of antitrust law to guide household brands and world-leading sports and entertainment properties through nuanced and novel competition issues, including:

- Defending challenges to sports governing bodies and organizations

- Claims at the intersection of IP and antitrust

- Protecting distribution, pricing policies, and go-to-market strategies

- Industry group’s ability to set standards

- Allegations of aftermarket monopolization

- Successfully mitigating class actions

He has a track record of success in federal trial courts across the country, including in California, New York, Florida, North Carolina, Texas, Illinois, and Delaware, and has won appeals before the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and other courts of appeal.

Chris regularly speaks on current antitrust litigation issues and is an active member of the American Bar Association Antitrust Law Section.

Chris maintains an active pro bono practice, including work on behalf of seniors — for which he and his team received the Justice Walker Pro Bono Award — as well as for veterans and Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), an organization that focuses on unaccompanied and separated children’s rights in the US.

Chris also served on the firm’s Associates Committee and Income Partner and Counsel Committee.