Honorary Doctor of Laws: Sally Q. Yates

By Susan Carini 04G May 6, 2022

Sally Q. Yates is former U.S. deputy attorney general and acting attorney general who served the Department of Justice (DOJ) for 27 years and was responsible for more than 100,000 employees, including the prosecutorial, litigation and national security sectors.

As deputy attorney general from 2015 to 2017, Yates focused on corporate fraud, cyber-crime, gang violence, civil rights and financial crime. She led the DOJ’s criminal-justice-reform efforts and enacted substantial prison-reform measures.

Yates drew from inspiring role models growing up. Her paternal grandfather served on the Georgia State Supreme Court, and her paternal grandmother was one of the first women admitted to the Georgia bar in 1934. Yates’s father was a judge on the Georgia Court of Appeals from 1966 to 1984.

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Ambivalent about pursuing a law career, Yates changed her mind after college when she worked as a staff assistant for a Georgia representative. “I loved the process of being in the center, where it felt like the important decisions are being made about our country,” she said.

She became an accomplished trial lawyer and Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers. Yates has prosecuted high-profile cases, including a corruption scheme at Hartsfield International Airport and bomber Eric Rudolph, whose crimes disrupted the 1996 summer Olympics in Atlanta.

Yates joined the DOJ in 1989. Prior to becoming deputy attorney general, she was the first woman to serve as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia. During her five-year tenure, Yates oversaw prosecution of all federal crimes and the litigation of civil matters.

A fierce believer in all citizens being treated equally under the law, Yates has said, “Americans must know that we will vigorously pursue criminal activity regardless of whether the crime is committed on a street corner or in a corner office.”

She is a partner in King & Spalding’s Special Matters and Government Investigations practice in addition to speaking frequently on public policy issues. Yates has served as a visiting distinguished lecturer at Georgetown University Law Center, currently co-chairs the Board of Trustees of the Council on Criminal Justice, and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Ethics Research Center.

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