Katherine Earle Yanes was born in Los Angeles, California. She graduated from Williams College, magna cum laude, with honors in economics, in 1993. In 1997, she graduated from Stetson University College of Law, magna cum laude, as valedictorian of her class.
She was an associate member of the Stetson Law Review. Following law school, Ms. Yanes served as a law clerk to Chief Judge Elizabeth A.
Kovachevich, United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida. Since 1999, she has represented defendants at the trial, appellate, and post-conviction phases of criminal litigation in federal and state courts, as well as in government investigations. Ms.
Yanes is a co-author of Habeas Corpus, Chapter 15, Florida Appellate Practice (8th ed. 2012), and the Second Edition of Grand Jury Law and Practice, a two-volume treatise published by West Group. Her writings include “Glickman v.
Wileman Bros. & Elliot, Inc.: Has the Supreme Court Lost its Way?,” 27 Stetson Law Review 1461 (1998). She also co-authored “A Primer on the Coase Theorem: Making Law in a World of Zero Transaction Costs,” 11 DePaul Business Law Journal 1 (1998), and “A Unified Theory of Justice: The Integration of Fairness into Efficiency,” 73 Washington Law Review 249 (1998), Commentaries on Law & Economics: 1997 Yearbook 248 (Robert W.
Rhode ed., 1998).Ms. Yanes is listed by The Best Lawyers in America for appellate practice and white-collar criminal defense. Florida Trend has listed her in Florida Legal Elite for criminal law.
Florida Super Lawyers has recognized Ms. Yanes for her Criminal Defense practice. In 2010 she was awarded the Hillsborough Association for Women Lawyers’ first President’s Award in appreciation of her outstanding service to HAWL.
Ms. Yanes served as President of the Hillsborough Association for Women Lawyers in 2012-13 and as President of the Tampa Bay Chapter of the Federal Bar Association in 2017. She is a member of The Florida Bar, the Hillsborough County Bar Association (Board Member, Trial and Litigation Section, 2009-present; former Co-Chair, Appellate Practice Section), the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the American Bar Association (ABA Liaison to the United States Sentencing Commission); and the Eleventh Circuit Historical Society.
