The National Law Journal selected Hale and Dorr managing partner and nationally known litigator William F. Lee to its annual list, “The 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America.” Lee was cited for leading Hale and Dorr to its nationally and internationally dominant position in technology and, locally, in pro bono services.
Lee became managing partner of Hale and Dorr LLP in February. Prior to assuming this position, he chaired the firm’s Litigation Department for four years. In addition to his firm responsibilities, Lee continues to concentrate his practice primarily on intellectual property and commercial litigation. A fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, Lee serves as a visiting professor at Harvard Law School, where he teaches intellectual property litigation.
In May, 2000, Lee was one of 15 attorneys nationally to be named by the chief judge for the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to its newly-created Advisory Committee. He will serve a three-year term on the committee, which will advise the court on ways to improve the administration of justice.
In May 1996, The National Law Journal named Lee one of the country’s top 10 litigators. He was profiled in the Journal as a leading trial attorney who has amassed a “long record of favorable jury verdicts” and for having won a recent high-profile, significant case. Three years later The National Law Journal profiled Lee’s verdict in a jury trial in Dallas involving a claim for $600 million in damages as one of the top defense jury verdicts in the country.
Lee received a J.D. degree, magna cum laude, from Cornell Law School, where he was named to the Order of the Coif, in 1976. In the same year, he received an M.B.A. degree with distinction from the Cornell Business School. He received an A.B., magna cum laude, from Harvard College in 1972.