The chairman and his legal advisor Mark Taylor were formerly directors of a holding company they used to buy Leeds in January 2005, a company which went into liquidation in June last year.
The law states that directors of a company which goes into liquidation have to apply to court to become directors of a company with the same or similar name, something Bates and Taylor had failed to do.
The rule is framed to stop so-called 'phoenixism' whereby companies go into liquidation and then resurface with virtually the same name without creditors realising the same directors are involved.
Bates' barrister, Louis Doyle, told the hearing in Leeds that the circumstances surrounding Leeds United's financial collapse during this summer were so high-profile that no-one could not have known of Bates' and Taylor's continuing involvement in the business.
Judge Langan QC accepted the application leaving them free to continue as directors.