[1] He also served as the Soviet Minister of Justice from 1989 to 1990 and as the legal adviser to both Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev from 2005 till his death in 2018.

In April 1992, the Congress of People's Deputies of Russia appointed Yakovlev as the President of the newly established High Court of Arbitration.

In 2022, in recognition of his contributions to the legal profession, the Ural State Law University, which Yakovlev graduated from in 1953, was renamed in his honor.

In 2023, a second commemorative plaque was installed on the apartment building in Central Moscow where Yakovlev resided from 2002 until his passing (12 Rochdelskaya Street, Presnensky District).

In the same year, a section of Shartashskaya Street in Yekaterinburg, which houses the Arbitration Court of Sverdlovsk Oblast, has been renamed Veniamin Yakovlev Lane.