Impact at CLIPI
After graduating from Columbia Law School, Lee worked for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund until 1982 when he joined CLIPI as a staff attorney supervising employment discrimination and civil rights litigation. At CLIPI, he focused on grocery stores and other public and private entities with working class jobs. He also worked on the Moseley case challenging Orange County’s alleged exclusionary zoning practices.
Following his time at CLIPI, Lee rejoined the NAACP Legal Defense Fund as the director of its Western Regional Office. In 1997, President Clinton appointed him as Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Justice, a position he held until 2001. After his government service, Lee continued his civil rights work in private practice and with various advocacy organizations.
