William F. Lee is a prominent lawyer who is currently the Co-Managing Partner of the international law firm Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, or WilmerHale, which was formed in 2004 from the merger of the Boston-based Hale and Dorr and the Washington-based Wilmer Cutler & Pickering. Lee is regarded as the first Asian-American to lead a major American law firm. WilmerHale now employs over 1,100 lawyers worldwide and is recognized by The National Law Journal in 2007 as the 22nd largest law firm in the United States by number of attorneys. William Lee is also a member of the firm’s Executive and Management Committees. Prior to the merger, Lee was the managing partner of Hale and Dorr from 2000 to 2004 and he also led the firm’s Litigation Department for four years. Lee has been working for the firm since 1976.

Lee possesses a notable list of school credentials having obtained an A.B. degree, magna cum laude, from Harvard University in 1972; Masters in Business Administration (with Distinction) from Cornell University in 1976; and a J.D. magna cum laude, from Cornell Law School in 1976. William Lee has an extensive practice in areas including commercial litigation, life sciences, intellectual property litigation, and litigation and arbitration. William Lee has represented a number of large clients including Calgene Inc., Genetics Institute, Boston Scientific, Atrium Medical Corp., General Electric, Biogen, the American Nuclear Insurers, and Reebok. He has successfully represented PictureTel Inc. in a bet-your-company lawsuit. He was also the lead trial counsel in numerous cases between Broadcom and Qualcomm. Moreover, Lee was involved in an infringement case representing EMC Corp. against Hewlett-Packard Co. that was settled in 2005, while on appeal, for $325 million.

William Lee has received national and international recognition including being one of “The 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America” by The National Law Journal in 2000 and 2006; one of the “Top Ten Lawyers with Successful Trial Strategies” by The National Law Journal in 2005; and one of “The 50 Most Influential Minority Lawyers in America” by The National Law Journal in 2008. Lee has also been selected as a “patent law expert” in Legal Media Group’s Guide to the World’s Leading Patent Law Practitioners 2007 and was recognized for his exceptional intellectual property practice in the Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Lawyers 2006 and 2007 editions.