Curtis Yates is a literary agent with Yates & Yates Literary Agency. Curtis says: “I joined Yates & Yates in 1999 and became a partner in 2005. Sometimes people tell me that I’m the only attorney they’ve met who loves what he does. And I consider myself extremely blessed to do what I love with people I love. But the best part of my job isn’t that I get to work with my dad and my brother. It’s not that I get to work with outstanding, ethical, Christian attorneys and colleagues. And, as wonderful as this is, it’s not that my office is only four miles away from my home in beautiful, sunny Southern California. The best part of my job is coming alongside passionate, articulate, gifted Christian communicators, using my strengths to guide, counsel, and protect them, fiercely advocate for them, and help them advance life- and culture-transforming messages for the sake of the Kingdom. That’s what gets me out of bed in the morning.By the time I started at Westmont College, where I met my beautiful wife Karen, I had pretty much decided I was going to law school. My early motivation for this was the realization that I loved to debate and I loved to win. I explored politics, spending a semester in Washington, DC in 1995, including interning on Capitol Hill. Deciding politics was not conducive to a family lifestyle, I plotted a course toward litigation. During my time at Pepperdine University Law School, I clerked for a few different litigation firms, including one of the largest firms in the world. I learned through those experiences that I would have been very frustrated in that field. When I joined Yates & Yates, I planned to fully engage in the firm’s general business transactional practice. Instead, I spent a great deal of my early days immersed in publishing agreements, manuscripts, and author meetings, discovering a passion for words, books, ideas and helping authors and creative types to make the most of their ideas, passions, and platforms.I’ve been married to Karen for 11 years. We have 3 beautiful children, 2 boys and an adorable girl. When I’m not working (and sometimes while I am), you’ll find me watching the Angels, the Broncos, or March Madness. On weekends, I’m typically out in the yard playing wiffle ball with my kids. And most nights I fall into bed wishing I had more time to finish reading the Wall Street Journal.”

Matt Yates is a literary agent with Yates & Yates Literary Agency. Matt says: “I got here back in 1995. Graduating law school during a recession, the only job available was working for my fatherÑthen the “Law Offices of Sealy M. Yates.” Well, I’m still here. Now, my name is on the door and I sign all the checks. I came on board with the firm in the early stages of Sealy’s launching of the literary agency side of our business. As Sealy spanned the globe in search of the next bestseller, I was left to man the store. The breadth of experience has been invaluable. I’ve done real estate transactions and estate plans, handled multi-million dollar civil litigation and a forward triangular corporate merger, organized scores of business entities and non-profits, worked on feature-length movies, and even did one divorce and an adoption. While we don’t do much of that work anymore, those experiences give our current clients the benefit of all the knowledge of a full service law firm.I was born and raised in Orange County. Perhaps because my Dad and I look alike and sound alike, I knew I always wanted to be a lawyer. I have often said, “I knew where I wanted to go to college before I knew what high school I would go to, and I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up even before that.” I went to college at Baylor UniversityÑmy college selection criteria were an out-of-state, Christian school, with a Division I football team. And, even disregarding that my Dad was a Baylor alum, there was only one choice. Baylor was followed by law school at Pepperdine University. I was admitted to several law schools, but only one in Malibu with a 270 degree view of the Pacific Ocean. I’m not sure if this section should mention things like honor’s societies, Dean’s lists, our athletic awards (Yes, I am the “Matt Yates” who captained the defense of the Baylor Lacrosse team from 1989-91), but since Curtis has a longer list of those, I’ll skip it. FUN FACT: I am also a certified agent with the NFL Players Association. So if you know anyone with 4.4 speed, give me a call.”