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 has also 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.