WilmerHale Co-Managing Partner Bill Lee has been named “MVP of the Year” by Law360 for his extraordinary achievements in intellectual property law and his exceptional leadership in the legal community. Among many things, Lee was recognized for “being one of the greats” and achieving significant victories that have helped transform the landscape of today’s IP system.
One of his recent and most significant successes highlighted by Law360 was his leading role in the firm’s representation of Abbott Laboratories, which resulted in securing a record-breaking patent ruling in litigation over its best-selling drug, Humira®. In February 2011 on appeal, Lee convinced the Federal Circuit to overturn a $1.67 billion verdict against Abbott—the largest patent infringement verdict in US history.
Throughout his nearly 35 year career, Lee has been equally at home in the trial court and the Federal Circuit. To date, he has tried over 50 patent cases to judgment and argued over 30 appeals before the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Among his involvement outside of the courtroom, Lee is an adjunct professor at Harvard Law School where he teaches the “Problem Solving Workshop” to first-year law students and shares his wisdom and expertise with the next generation of litigators. In July 2010, Lee was appointed a Fellow of the Harvard Corporation.
This recognition highlights Lee’s widely renowned reputation as one of the preeminent IP litigators in the US. Just this year, Lee was named by ChambersUSA as one of “America’s Leading Lawyers in Business,” and Chambers Global as among the “World’s Leading Lawyers in Business,” as well as the Boston Business Journal’s Power 50. Additionally, Lee was the recipient of the Asian American Lawyers Association’s Founders Award; named among the elite “Leading Lawyers” by The Legal 500 United States 2011; and recognized by Benchmark Litigation 2012 as one of America’s leading litigation attorneys.
Founded in 2003, Law360 is a publisher of news and data for business lawyers and other legal professionals. The Law360 profile on Lee’s achievement is available here.