Lecturer List

Michael D. Lee is a trusts and estates practitioner whose work centers on the taxation of wealth transfers. He advises high-net-worth, international, and high technology families, including many with ties to the Asia-Pacific region, on estate and gift planning, including questions involving cross-border income/estate tax treaties, and on the administration of taxable estates. His practice emphasizes the
multistate and international taxation of trusts and estates, with substantial experience in Wyoming and Nevada trust structures.

Mr. Lee also advises technology founders on estate and tax planning undertaken in advance of a merger or initial public offering, including planning around qualified small business stock. His charitable practice includes the formation, governance, and administration of private family foundations and charitable trusts.

Mr. Lee currently serves as a member of the Committee of Bar Examiners of the State Bar of California, the body responsible for admission to the practice of law in California and for the California Bar Examination. He previously served the State Bar as a member and later as Chair of its Board of Legal Specialization. He is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia, Washington, Wyoming, and Nevada.

Asset protection planning is a related component of his practice, including trust practice under Wyoming and Nevada law. That work draws on the bankruptcy practice of his early career, in which he represented both debtors and creditors from consumer cases through complex commercial Chapter 11 reorganizations, and on his standing as a California Certified Specialist in Bankruptcy Law. Familiarity with how creditors and trustees proceed informs the structures he designs and defends.

Before entering private practice, Mr. Lee served with the Internal Revenue Service and with the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada, where he was an appellate, bankruptcy, and tax attorney.

Mr. Lee received his J.D. from Santa Clara University School of Law and his B.A. from the University of California, San Diego. He also holds a certificate in accounting from the University of California, Los Angeles. He teaches Wills and Trusts, Taxation of Gratuitous Transfers, and Debtor and Creditor Rights.

Mr. Lee is a member of the Rotary Club of San Jose. He and his wife, also a graduate of Santa Clara University School of Law and a practicing attorney, are the parents of a son and a daughter.