The Institute for Free Speech is pleased to announce the return of Owen Yeates as a Senior Attorney on the litigation team.  

Owen was initially hired at the Institute in 2015 as a Staff Attorney and was promoted in 2021 to Senior Attorney and Deputy Vice President for Litigation. He also served as Acting Legal Director following the departure of Allen Dickerson to the FEC. Most recently, Owen has served as Deputy District Attorney for Multnomah County in Oregon.  

“We are excited to welcome back Owen Yeates to our litigation team,” said Institute for Free Speech President David Keating. “He will also take on an important role in our regulatory, legislative, and policy work. Owen’s previous work at our organization has been invaluable; he played a key role in many of our cases and, in doing so, helped set a legal precedent that will protect American speech rights for years to come. We look forward to his continued contributions.” 

Owen received his J.D. from Stanford Law School after completing a Ph.D. in Political Science at Duke University. He clerked for judges of the United States Courts of Appeals for the Ninth and Tenth Circuits, and was an associate at Klarquist Sparkman, LLP in Portland, Oregon. 

Please join us in welcoming back Owen Yeates to our staff.