Bill Lee is a partner in the Litigation/Controversy and Intellectual Property Departments. He is a former co-managing partner of the firm, a position which he held for seven years. He was a managing partner of Hale and Dorr from 2000 to 2004 and chaired the firm's Litigation Department for four years. Mr. Lee joined the firm in 1976.
Practice
Mr. Lee continues to concentrate his practice primarily on intellectual property and commercial litigation. His trial and appellate experience is extensive. Mr. Lee has tried more than 100 patent cases, both jury and jury waived, to judgment and argued more than 50 appeals before the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and other Courts of Appeals. In 2012, he was one of eight finalists selected by The American Lawyer as "Litigator of the Year."
Mr. Lee has acted as lead trial counsel for Apple Inc. in the "smart phone war" litigations and in several cases between Broadcom and Qualcomm; and a trial concerning genetically engineered products involving laser optics, video compression, cellular communications, remote data storage, secure Internet communications, pharmaceutical products, high-speed chromatography and medical devices. From July 1987 through June 1989, Mr. Lee served as associate counsel to Independent Counsel Lawrence E. Walsh in the Iran-Contra investigation. In that capacity, Mr. Lee was responsible for certain portions of the grand jury investigation and resulting indictments.
He also has served as a special assistant to the Massachusetts Attorney General for the purpose of investigating alleged incidents of racial bias in the Commonwealth's courts.
Professional Activities
Mr. Lee is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.
In July 2010, Mr. Lee was appointed a Fellow of the Harvard Corporation. He is a former member of the Harvard Board of Overseers.
Mr. Lee has served as the John A. Reilly Visiting Professor and the Eli Goldston Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School.
Mr. Lee has served on the Advisory Committee of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. He has also served on the Advisory Committee of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts on its local rules; its Committee to Evaluate Administration of the Criminal Justice Act; and the Merit Selection Panel on Magistrate Judges. The Governor of Massachusetts appointed Mr. Lee to serve on a special Judicial Nominating Committee for the selection of judges for the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.
He has also served as a member of the Visiting Committee at Cornell Law School. He is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Broad Institute.
Honors and Awards
- Named a "Litigator of the Year Finalist" by The American Lawyer 2012 and singled out as "Mr. IP"
- Recognized in 2011 as one of Boston’s top 50 most powerful people by the Boston Business Journal
- Recipient of the 2011 Founders Award on behalf of the Asian American Lawyers Association of Massachusetts for his significant contributions in business, academics and the community in relation to the law
- Recognized as a "Most Admired Attorney” by Law360 for his success rate in the court room as an IP litigator
- Listed as a "Leading Lawyer" in the areas of intellectual property: patent litigation: International Trade Commission, in the 2009, 2010 and 2011 editions of The Legal 500 United States
- Named "Outstanding US IP Practitioner of the Year," by Managing IP magazine in 2009
- Named one of "The 50 Most Influential Minority Lawyers in America," by The National Law Journal in 2008
- Named one of "The 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America" by The National Law Journal in June 2000 and again in June 2006.
- Recognized for his exceptional intellectual property practice in the 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 editions of Chambers Global: The World's Leading Lawyers
- Recognized as a national leader in the area of intellectual property in the 2010 edition of Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business
- Recognized as a Massachusetts leader in the area of intellectual property and a national leader in the area of life sciences: IP/patent litigation in the 2011 edition of Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business
- Listed in each edition of Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business since 2003. Was the only Massachusetts lawyer awarded the "star" ranking in intellectual property (a stand-alone award above the number one ranking) (2004, 2005 and 2006 editions).
- Highly recommended in the PLC Cross-border IP in Business Transactions Handbook 2008/09
- Listed in the 2006-2007 of the PLC IP & IT Cross-Border Handbook as both a "leading" lawyer for intellectual property in Boston and for patent litigation in the US
- Ranked as one of the nation's most highly recommended intellectual property attorneys in the 2006/07, 2007/08 and 2009/2010 editions of the PLC Cross-border Life Sciences Handbook
- Selected as a "patent law expert" in Legal Media Group's Guide to the World's Leading Patent Law Practitioners 2007 and a "litigation expert" in The Best of the Best 2011
- Recognized as one of Boston's top lawyers in the dispute resolution and intellectual property, and as national leader in patent litigation in the PLC Which Lawyer? Yearbook 2006. Also listed as one of four "star" lawyers of the firm in the 2005 edition.
- Selected as one of The National Law Journal’s 2005 "Top Ten Lawyers with Successful Trial Strategies"
- Selected by peers for inclusion in every issue of The Best Lawyers in America since 1995/1996 and most recently was named the Best Lawyers’ 2012 and 2011 "Boston Intellectual Property Litigation Lawyer of the Year"
Community Involvement
A resident of Wellesley, Mr. Lee has served as chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Tenacre Country Day School.
