Kenneth K. Lee

Kenneth Kiyul Lee (; born August 30, 1975) is a South Korean-born American lawyer who serves as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Early life and education

Lee was born in 1975 in Seoul, South Korea. Lee's family immigrated to the United States when he was four years old, following the 1979 military coup in South Korea. Lee grew up in the Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles. His father operated a spray paint equipment repair shop, and his mother was a pharmacist and acupuncturist.

Early legal career After graduating from law school, Lee served as a law clerk to Judge Emilio M. Garza of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit from 2000 to 2001. From 2010 to 2011, Lee served as an adjunct faculty member at Pepperdine University School of Law. In 2018, Lee was named one of the "Most Influential Minority Attorneys" by the Los Angeles Business Journal.

Federal judicial service

On October 10, 2018, President Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Lee to serve as a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. On November 13, 2018, his nomination was sent to the Senate. President Trump nominated Lee to the seat vacated by Judge Stephen Reinhardt, who died on March 29, 2018.

On January 3, 2019, his nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate.

On January 30, 2019, President Trump indicated that he would renominate Lee to a Ninth Circuit vacancy. On February 6, 2019, his nomination was sent to the Senate. On March 13, 2019, a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee. During the hearing, he was questioned about college writings covering AIDS, political correctness, and feminism. He apologized for some of the writings, saying he regretted them and was embarrassed by them. The Wall Street Journal editorial board responded to the questioning about Lee's college writings: "...what Mr. Lee wrote in college is of no relevance to how he’d behave as a jurist. ... What liberals really don’t like is that Mr. Lee dissented from progressive doctrines on racial preferences, among other issues."

On April 4, 2019, his nomination was reported out of committee by a 12–10 vote. On May 14, 2019, the Senate invoked cloture on his nomination by a 50–45 vote. On May 15, 2019, his nomination was confirmed by a 52–45 vote. He received his judicial commission on June 12, 2019. Lee is the nation's first Article III judge who was born in the Republic of Korea and the second Korean American to serve on the Ninth Circuit.

In August 2020, Lee was part of a three-judge panel who held that California's "large capacity magazine ban" was unconstitutional.

Memberships

Lee is listed as an expert for the Federalist Society and has been a speaker and panelist on the topics of Food & Drug Law, Class Action lawsuits, and the Constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act.