Judge Yandle was appointed United States District Judge for the Southern District of Illinois August 22, 2014. She earned her B.S. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1983 and her Juris Doctorate from Vanderbilt University School of Law in 1987. Judge Yandle was in private practice from 1987 until 2007 and was a solo practitioner in O'fallon, Illinois from 2007 until commissioned as a United States District Judge.
In addition to her practice of law, she served on the Illinois Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights from 1992 to 1996, and by appointment on the Illinois Gaming Board, from 1999 to 2001. Judge Yandle has also served on the board of governors of the American Association for Justice and the St. Clair County Bar Association. She is a former president of the Metro East Bar Association.