Charles Yates

Charles Yates is an attorney in Pacific Legal Foundation’s Separation of Powers practice. He primarily litigates cases on the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Water Act, among other issues. He was a member of the litigation team for Sackett v. EPA at the Supreme Court. 
 
His inspiration to focus on environmental law comes from the special case of government overreach it presents, where individual rights too often give way to collectivist notions and where misguided government policies create a cure worse than the disease. Charles has a particularly strong belief in the important role that the productive use of natural resources plays in human flourishing. To these ends, Charles has represented landowners, farmers, ranchers, timber operators, and oil and gas producers as lead counsel before numerous federal trial and appellate courts. In addition to his work as a litigator, he has appeared on a variety of national television and radio programs, has addressed numerous professional and industry gatherings, and has been quoted in the Associated Press, Reuters, Reason, the San Francisco Chronicle, and E&E News, among other publications. 
 
Charles credits his strong belief in the principles of individual liberty and limited, constitutional government to his family. His personal philosophy developed further while studying the works of John Locke, Adam Smith, James Madison, and Robert Nozick. Born and raised in Australia, he has always admired the United States Constitution as the purest and most enduring application of the ideals of the Enlightenment. It was these influences that impressed upon him the desire to pursue a career in public interest litigation. 
 
Charles holds a B.A. in political science and international relations from the University of Western Australia (with a portion of his coursework done at the University of Arizona). After completing his undergraduate studies, he again moved to the United States, where he earned his J.D. magna cum laude from the University of Baltimore School of Law. During law school, he served as president of his school’s chapter of The Federalist Society and was an editor of the University of Baltimore Law Review. Other highlights from his law school days include an internship at the Cato Institute. 
 
Charles lives in Sacramento with his wife Maxine. Outside of work, his interests include following boxing and football (of both the American and rugby league varieties), reading, and playing the bass guitar. 
 
Charles is a member of the bar only in the state of California.