Joseph D. Lee is a litigation partner in the Los Angeles office of Munger, Tolles & Olson. His practice focuses on complex civil litigation and white collar investigations. He has litigated a wide variety of complex litigation matters, including consumer class actions, False Claims Act litigation, securities and antitrust cases. Representative matters handled by Mr. Lee include:
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General Electric Company: Defended consumer class action alleging over-charging on office equipment leases. Defending antitrust and RICO claims in Northern District of California relating to equipment leases.
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GE Aircraft Engines: Successfully moved to transfer to China three related wrongful death actions arising from an air crash in China.
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Costco Wholesale Corporation: Defended a federal court shareholder derivative suit arising from allegedly misdated stock option grants.
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Verizon: Defeated class certification in federal court class action relating to Caller ID services.
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Verizon Wireless: Successfully moved to compel arbitration on individual basis of putative class action alleging over-charging.
Mr. Lee has argued cases before the U.S. Court of Appeal for the 9th Circuit, the Court of Appeal of California and the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. He has also tried cases in Los Angeles County Superior Court and the U.S. District Court, Central District of California.
Investigations and Defense
Mr. Lee has substantial experience in conducting internal investigations regarding possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and other laws, and has defended companies subject to investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the California Attorney General and the California Commissioner of Insurance.
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FCPA Investigations: Mr. Lee has conducted internal investigations into alleged FCPA violations in Latin America (Mexico, Colombia and Brazil), Asia (Thailand, Indonesia, Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines and China), Europe (England, Russia, Germany and Spain) and the Middle East (Israel and the United Arab Emirates).
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Other Investigations: Mr. Lee has conducted investigations into other alleged violations of U.S. laws, including title reinsurance kickbacks, backdating of stock options, misuse of funds held by a California charitable trust and accounting irregularities at a private university.
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Compliance Counseling: Mr. Lee has counseled companies on internal corporate controls and compliance issues and has drafted FCPA compliance programs. He assisted GE and The Boeing Company in drafting procedures for conducting internal investigations.