Judge Robert C. Coates retired from the Superior Court of California, County of San Diego, in January 2011, with nearly 30 years of experience on the bench. He currently serves as Partner with the San Diego litigation, business, and real estate practice Olins, Riviere, Coates & Bagula. Judge Robert C. Coates provides counsel on matters of estate planning and small-business litigation and currently advises a company with maquiladora operations in Tijuana, Mexico.

A graduate of San Diego State University, Judge Robert C. Coates established the 13-lawyer firm Coates & Miller, LLP, in the early 1970s. He argued several precedent-setting cases in the areas of criminal defense, environmental law, mental health, and mining, including two before the Supreme Court of California. In 1982, Judge Coates accepted a bench position with San Diego’s Municipal Court Civil Division. In this capacity, he oversaw settlement conferences, handled ex-parte requests, and took action on pre-trial motions for four years. Then, for three years, Judge Robert C. Coates presided over extended civil jury trials, subsequently serving in juvenile and family law divisions within the San Diego County Superior Court. In 2003, he earned the Community Service Award from the San Diego County Judges Association, and the following year, he was re-elected Judge with nearly 70 percent of the countywide vote.

Over the decades, Judge Robert C. Coates has established a reputation as a legal thinker and analyst, authoring five lead articles in major law journals. In 1989, “Legal Rights of Homeless Americans” was published in the University of San Francisco Law Review, and in 2007, “What the Courts Can Do to Participate in Ending Chronic Homelessness” was printed in the same journal. These articles reflect Judge Coates’ longstanding commitment to solving issues of homelessness and endemic poverty. In 1990, he published A Street is Not a Home: Solving America’s Homeless Dilemma (Prometheus Books), and in 1995, he developed and taught the course Poverty Law at Thomas Jefferson School of Law. A 1999 winner of the Coalition for the Homeless’ Humanitarian Award, Judge Robert C. Coates currently chairs San Diego’s Homeless Women Task Force. The group is a coalition of organizations such as Catholic charities, the San Diego Housing Commission, United Way of San Diego County, the San Diego Police Department, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.