Joshua Lee

Joshua Lee is an associate in the Los Angeles office of Irell & Manella LLP, where he is a member of the firm's insurance and litigation practice groups focusing on complex business and insurance litigation.  Mr. Lee has represented a wide range of clients, from major corporations and cities to small businesses and individuals, in a variety of matters, such as:

• Representation of municipalities and insurance pool members in coverage disputes arising out of major property damage litigation.
• Defense of partnership and individuals in bankruptcy court adversary proceeding alleging fraudulent transfer.
• Representation of businesses in disputes over insurers’ bad faith denial of commercial general liability coverage.
• Representation of patent licensor before the International Court of Arbitration in proceedings involving alleged breach of contract, tortious interference and patent infringement claims.
• Representation of individual in connection with investigation by various federal agencies of alleged fraud.
• Representation of individuals in coverage dispute with first-party health insurance providers.

Mr. Lee earned his J.D. from Yale Law School in 2009.  During law school, he was student director of a clinic team that successfully petitioned for, briefed and argued the case of an Eritrean refugee to the Supreme Court in Negusie v. Holder.  The Court held 8-1 in that case that the Bureau of Immigration Affairs and Fifth Circuit had misapplied a prior Supreme Court decision to determine that refugees, who had participated in “persecution” could be denied asylum, even if their participation had been coerced by the threat of violence.  Mr. Lee was also a member of Yale Law School’s Affirmative Litigation Project, coordinating consumer protection litigation with the San Francisco City Attorney and the California Department of Insurance.

Before law school, Mr. Lee was a senior analyst at the firm Strumwasser & Woocher LLP. There, he participated in the California Department of Insurance's investigation of alleged illegal rebating schemes in the title insurance industry and in drafting new regulations governing title insurance rates. While at Strumwasser & Woocher, Mr. Lee also investigated allegations of illicit energy trades at the California Independent System Operator and Title VI compliance in the L.A. Unified School District's distribution of billions of dollars of state bond funding to its schools.

Mr. Lee is active in the community.  He volunteers for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and coaches boys and girls youth soccer for the West Valley Soccer League.

Publications and Presentations

• Presentation, "Insurance in Business Transactions," Bridgeport CLE, February 2013, Los Angeles, CA;
• "Breaking Down Liability Insurance for Transactional Lawyers," Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journal, November 20, 2012 (with Marc Maister, Michael Fehner and Brian Bark);
• "Some Pragmatic Advice for the Non-Insurance Litigator," Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journal, October 24, 2012 (with Marc Maister, Michael Fehner and Brian Bark);
• "White Collar Litigation's Attendant Insurance Issues," Law360, March 27, 2012 (with Marshall A. Camp and Brian Z. Bark);
• "Practice Pointers," New Appleman Insurance Law Practice Guide (2012 ed.), March 26, 2012 (with Marc S. Maister and Brian Z. Bark);
• "Claims Handling and the Duty of Good Faith," Matthew Bender Cal. Ins. Law & Prac. (2010 rev.), March 31, 2010 (with Marc S. Maister and Brian Z. Bark).

Bar & Court Admissions

• 2009, California
• United States District Court, Central District of California
• United States District Court, Northern District of California