Judge Dennis Yule graduated from Seattle Pacific University in 1960 and from Duke University School of Law in 1967. He was admitted to the Washington State Bar and clerked for Washington State Supreme Court Justice Matthew Hill in 1967.

Following private practice with a Seattle law firm and public practice in the Benton County Prosecuting Attorney's office, he served as a Superior Court Judge for Benton and Franklin Counties for 23 years, retiring in 2009. During his tenure on Superior Court, Judge Yule was the supervising judge for the court's juvenile division and initiated the Court's juvenile and adult drug courts, serving as the first adult drug court judge.

Judge Yule has been a member of the Washington State Minority and Justice Commission for 20 years and has served for the past several years as chair of the Commission's Outreach Committee. He also serves on the Washington State Children's Justice Task Force, on the Board of Directors of the Washington Judges Foundation, the Judicial Advisory Board of the Center for Children and Youth Justice, the national Judges Advisory Group of the Coalition for Juvenile Justice SOS Project, the Juvenile Justice Advisory Board for the Benton/Franklin Counties Models for Change Initiative, and the Board of Directors of the Benton-Franklin Substance Abuse Coalition.

He continues to be engaged in programs and projects at the local, state and national levels relating to minorities and justice, access to justice, juvenile justice and specialty courts.