Bill Lann Lee Biography

Bill Lann Lee

Son of Chinese immigrants who ran a laundry in New York City, Lee graduated from Yale University and Columbia University Law School. He became a civil rights lawyer, serving as western director for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Lee became the highest-ranking Asian-American law enforcement official in the United States when President Clinton named him assistant attorney general for civil rights in 1997. After the Clinton administration, he joined a San Francisco law firm, and specialized in class action lawsuits concerning human rights and employment.