Prominent Litigator Randall Lee Joins Cooley in LA

Los Angeles – February 5, 2019 – Leading litigator and SEC enforcement lawyer Randall Lee has joined Cooley as a partner in Los Angeles. He arrives from WilmerHale, where he founded its Los Angeles office and served as the office’s partner-in-charge for a decade.

“Randall is highly respected in the legal community, and by all of us here who have had the opportunity to work alongside and opposite him,” said Mike Attanasio, chair of Cooley’s global litigation department. “We are thrilled to welcome him to our team of trial lawyers and advocates. He brings to Cooley more than 30 years of private and public sector experience, which will play a critical role in growing our national white collar practice, our internal investigations capability, and our global litigation group. Randall’s tenure at the SEC and DOJ, as well as his first-chair trial experience, will be indispensable to our clients.”

Lee’s practice focuses on high-stakes litigation, investigations and white-collar defense. He represents large companies and their boards, executives, special committees and audit committees in investigations by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the US Department of Justice and other governmental agencies, as well as in internal investigations of potential misconduct. Lee is recognized by Chambers USA in the area of white-collar crime and government investigations, has twice been named to the Daily Journal’s Top 100 lawyers in California, and in 2017 was selected by The National Law Journal as a Winning Litigator for a high-stakes trial victory over the SEC.

“Cooley offers an exciting combination of a thriving litigation practice, a market-leading corporate practice and an entrepreneurial and collaborative culture,” Lee said. “I’m looking forward to working with my new colleagues to assist our clients if they face a governmental investigation. I am also excited to continue the growth of our litigation practice in Los Angeles.”

Prior to joining WilmerHale, Lee served as regional director of the SEC’s Pacific Regional Office from 2001 to 2007, where he oversaw the SEC’s Los Angeles and San Francisco offices and was the first Asian American to lead an SEC regional office. Additionally, from 1994 to 2001, he was an assistant US attorney for the Central District of California, where he also served as deputy chief of the Major Frauds Section.

Before becoming a federal prosecutor, Lee was a transactional lawyer and clerked for the Hon. James L. Buckley on the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit. He graduated from Yale University and earned his JD from UC Berkeley School of Law.

Lee maintains an active pro bono practice and is deeply committed to diversity and inclusion initiatives. He is a member of the Southern California Chinese Lawyers Association and the Japanese American Bar Association.

The American Lawyer recently recognized Cooley’s exceptional litigation practice with an honorable mention for Litigation Department of the Year and by naming the firm a finalist for California Regional Litigation Department of the Year. Other publications have also lauded the rise of Cooley’s global litigation practice, including BTI Consulting Group, The Lawyer and Law360.

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