EDUCATION:
University of Michigan, Bachelor's Degree in English, 1971
University of Michigan, J.D., 1973

BAR MEMBERSHIPS:
Florida Bar, 1982 to Present
Michigan Bar, 1973-1984

COURT ADMISSIONS:
Middle District of Florida
11th Circuit Appellate Court
U.S. Supreme Court
United States Tax Court

PROFESSIONAL RECOGNITION AND ASSOCIATIONS:
Two Justice Department Special Achievement Awards
Florida Super Lawyer 2006 - 2009
Hillsborough County Bar Association

FAVORITE MUSICIANS:
Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton, James Blunt, Sade, Beatles, Bob Dylan, Santana
 

FAVORITE SPORTS TEAMS:
University of Michigan Wolverines, Tampa Bay Bucs, Pittsburgh Steelers

OTHER HOBBIES AND INTERESTS:
Horses, Fox Hunting, Sport Fencing, Poetry, Wine, Gourmet Cooking

PUBLICATIONS, NEWS & EVENTS:
Frequently interviewed on various television stations and questioned in local newspapers regarding legal issues.

BIOGRAPHY:
By the time Lee graduated from the University of Michigan Law School with his Juris Doctorate degree in 1973, he was already a published poet, an experienced thespian and had learned to fence with both saber and epee. By the time he left Michigan to begin his career as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Middle District of Florida (Tampa) in 1980, he had appeared before the Michigan Supreme Court six times, the Michigan Courts of Appeal on numerous occasions and had tried numerous felony cases as Chief of the Criminal Division for the Prosecuting Attorney's Office in Lansing, Michigan, including a number of murders.

When Lee finally left government service to go into private practice in 1993, he had gained additional experience in both State and Federal Court in Florida, and had tried cases throughout the Middle District of Florida and appeared in the Fifth and Eleventh Circuit Federal Courts of Appeal. He was a nationally-recognized expert in a number of practice areas and routinely lectured and taught seminars for the National College of District Attorneys, several States, the Florida Judges College, the FBI and the Department of Justice on such topics as: the trial of capital cases, the insanity defense, the investigation and prosecution of racketeering cases, cross-examination and the use of court-ordered electronic surveillance.

Since going into private practice, Lee has focused his attention on complex criminal defense (including the avoidance of prosecution), commercial litigation involving land use related issues (from contract disputes to specific performance of land-related contracts to administrative law challenges concerning permits and eminent domain/inverse condemnation), and has appeared in the Florida Supreme Court and argued cases in Florida's Courts of Appeal.

Lee loves to entertain his friends by cooking for them and sharing with them his small but select cellar of wines, and brings his appetite for life, his creativity as a poet and his competitiveness as an athlete and accomplished horseman to every task he undertakes for his clients. He is married and has two grown daughters and welcomed his first grandchild in May of 2009.