The Honorable Lee Yeakel

UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
WESTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS, AUSTIN DIVISION 

The Honorable Lee Yeakel was appointed by President George W. Bush and confirmed as a United States District Judge for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division, in July 2003.  Judge Yeakel served as Chief Justice and Justice of the Texas Third Court of Appeals from 1998 until his confirmation.  Judge Yeakel spent his entire legal career in Austin.  After law school, he was in private practice for over 28 years.  He is a member of the American Law Institute, a life member of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, a sustaining life fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, and a fellow of the American Bar Foundation.  Judge Yeakel was awarded the 2012 Samuel Pessarra Outstanding Jurist Award by the Texas Bar Foundation, and the University of Texas School of Law’s The Review of Litigation named Judge Yeakel the Outstanding Texas Jurist for 2014.  In 2020 the Texas Bar Foundation named him an Outstanding 50-year lawyer.  The Honorable Lee Yeakel Intellectual Property American Inn of Court is named in his honor.  He has spoken at various professional development courses and regulatory conferences.  Judge Yeakel received undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Master of Laws from the University of Virginia.  Judge Yeakel and his wife, Anne, have been married for 54 years.  They have two adult children, and three grandchildren.