Week 4
Bill Lann Lee
 In 1997, President Bill Clinton nominated Bill Lann
Lee to the nation's highest civil rights post--Assistant Attorney General
for Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Justice. Mr. Lee's nomination
followed 23 years as a civil rights attorney for the NAACP Legal Defense
and Educational Fund, the Center for Law in the Public Interest, and
the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund.
With President Clinton's nomination, Bill Lann Lee became the highest-ranking
Asian-American in the Department of Justice, where he served until the
end of President Clinton's term. During these years, he worked successfully
to strengthen hate crime laws, improved access and opportunities for
Americans with disabilities, fought against housing discrimination,
and spearheaded efforts to toughen laws against human trafficking and
involuntary servitude.
Born February 5, 1949 in New York City, Bill Lann Lee and his family
were not strangers to discrimination and bigotry. Mr. Lee's father had
endured racial taunting as a young man. He hoped for better treatment
after he returned from serving honorably in WWII, where he felt he was
treated as an equal. However, when he returned to New York, he was denied
housing and employment due to his race.
Bill Lann Lee's parents owned a small hand laundry, where they made
a modest living and taught Bill and his brother Ernest valuable life
lessons about family, hard work, justice, and patriotism.
After graduating from the Bronx High School of Science, Bill Lann Lee
attended Yale University on a scholarship, and majored in History. He
graduated magna cum laude in 1971, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
In 1974, he earned his J.D. from Columbia University Law School, where
he was a Stone Scholar and won the Best Moot Court Prize.
While a law student, Bill Lann Lee worked as a research assistant for
Jack Greenberg, Thurgood Marshall's successor at the NAACP Legal Defense
and Educational Fund. After graduating from law school, he returned
to the Legal Defense and Educational Fund and worked there as a civil
rights attorney until 1982.
Reflecting on his work experience as a law student, Bill Lann Lee encourages
law students "who want to make a difference" to work for a
term, or a summer, in public interest or public affairs law. The experience
may lead them to careers in public interest law, or might lead them
to other legal careers with a heightened awareness and interest in public
affairs.
In 1979-80, Bill Lann Lee served as Counsel for the Asian American
Legal Defense and Education Fund. From 1983-88, he was Supervising Attorney
for Civil Rights Litigation, Center for Law in the Public Interest,
in Los Angeles. He then returned to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational
Fund, Inc. to serve as Western Regional Counsel in Los Angeles.
After completing his tenure as Assistant Attorney General for Civil
Rights, he returned to his alma mater, Columbia University Law School,
as a visiting scholar, and wrote a report on international human rights
for the Ford Foundation.
In November 2001, Bill Lann Lee accepted a position as a partner with
the law firm of Lieff Cabraser Heimann and Bernstein, where he directs
the firm's human rights practice and co-chairs the employment practice,
splitting his time between their San Francisco headquarters and their
Washington D.C. office. He is particularly excited about his work on
human rights cases, as well as those involving civil rights.
Bill Lann Lee has authored briefs in many U.S. Supreme Court cases
and has presented oral arguments before seven U.S. Circuit Courts of
Appeal. He has been an active member of several professional organizations,
including the Los Angeles County Bar, the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference,
the Southern California Chinese Lawyer Association, and the American
Bar Association.
He has received many honors for his outstanding career in civil rights
law, including the Thurgood Marshall Medal of Justice (1998), the Trailblazer
Award from the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (1999),
and the John Randolph Distinguished Service Award, U. S. Department
of Justice (2001). He has also been awarded honorary doctorates in law
from City University of New York Law School (2001), North Carolina Central
University (2000), and Wesleyan University (1999).
As a young child and a student at Yale, Bill Lann Lee felt alienated
from the greater society because of his Asian heritage. However, he
now believes that our country has changed and that Asian-Americans'
cultural backgrounds help them learn skills as "ethnic diplomats"
and bridge builders. He encourages youngsters to develop those skills
as they prepare for leadership opportunities.
Recognizing that the conditions of historic unfairness still exist,
he believes that properly framed affirmative action programs are still
necessary. Believing that African-Americans and Asian-Americans share
a common experience of having lived on the margins of society, and continue
to encounter somewhat similar problems of discrimination and exclusion,
he urges the two groups to work together on issues of common concern
and achieve gains through collaboration and coalition building.
Among Bill Lann Lee's proudest moments are those spent with his wife
Carolyn and their three children-daughter Angela, who is a student at
the University of Virginia, and sons Mark and Nicholas, all of whom
are talented string instrumentalists. He has also spoken of his pride
in keeping faith with his parents' vision of the promise of America.
The American Bar Association commends Bill Lann Lee, an outstanding
Asian-American attorney and "bridge builder," on his achievements,
his commitment to civil rights for all persons in the United States,
and his steadfast quest for human rights throughout the world.
Photo Usage:
Photo used with permission of Bill Lann Lee.
Asian Pacifican American Heritage Month 2002
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