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Mr. Bates graduated with honors from Harvard University in 1987 where he was a National Merit Scholar. After college, Mr. Bates was awarded a Rotary International Fellowship to the University of Manchester, Manchester, Great Britain. Mr. Bates received his law degree from Vanderbilt University School of Law in 1992, where he was awarded the Andrew Ewing Scholarship, graduated Order of the Coif, served as Articles Editor of the Vanderbilt Law Review and on the Moot Court Board, received American Jurisprudence Awards or "top paper" in five classes, authored Note, "Out of Focus: The Misapplication of Equitable Remedies in the Nontraditional Arena of School Desegregation," 44 Vanderbilt Law Review 1315, 1991; and served as Symposium Editor and authored the Introduction for the 1992 Symposium Issue of the Review, "A Reevaluation of the Canons of Statutory Interpretation," 45 Vanderbilt Law Review No. 3, 1992. Following graduation from law school, Mr. Bates served as a law clerk for the Honorable Danny J. Boggs, Circuit Judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in 1992 and 1993. Following his clerkship, Mr. Bates moved to California where he focused his practice on public interest environmental law and worked as an Associate Attorney with EarthJustice Legal Defense Fund. While at EarthJustice, Mr. Bates was involved in high-profile and significant litigation involving, among other issues, preservation of western streams that provide habitat for endangered salmon and steelhead trout, remediation of contamination at decommissioned military bases, preservation of old-growth forest habitat for the Spotted Owl and other endangered species, protection of California coastal lands from over-development and oil exploration, and the establishment of emissions trading programs for industries in southern California. In 1998, Mr. Bates returned home to Little Rock, Arkansas where his practice has included a broad spectrum of environmental litigation, including industrial pollution, groundwater pollution from underground storage tanks and other facilities, air pollution, toxic exposures, oil and gas exploration and production waste, crop damage from pesticides, as well as claims against federal and local governmental agencies that have not fulfilled statutory mandates to protect the environment. Mr. Bates has represented numerous individuals and entire communities (numbering hundreds of households) in complex and high-profile litigation involving air pollution, groundwater pollution, and toxic exposures resulting in multi-million dollar recoveries and agreements and court orders requiring remediation of contamination and compliance with applicable environmental laws and regulations in the future. Mr. Bates is a frequent lecturer on subjects related to environmental law and toxic torts. In addition, Mr. Bates is involved in complex litigation concerning consumer protection, employment discrimination, defective products and securities fraud. Mr. Bates is an active member of the bar, serving presently or in the past as Vice-Chairman of the American Bar Association’s Committee on Pesticides, Chemical Regulation, and Right-to-Know; as chairman of the Environmental Law Section of the Arkansas Bar Association, and as Arkansas State Coordinator for Trial Lawyers for Public Justice. In addition, he is a member of the Arkansas Trial Lawyers Association, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, and the California Bar Association. Mr. Bates is listed as a Mid-South Super Lawyer (2006) and in Best Lawyers in America (Environmental Law) (2007 Ed.). Mr. Bates is licensed to practice in the State of Arkansas, the State of California, the United States Court of Federal Claims, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eight and Ninth Circuits, the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Arkansas, and the U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of California. | 