Lee began his legal career clerking for the Honorable Ronald R. Holliger at the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District. Following his judicial clerkship, Lee began private practice at a business litigation boutique, where he represented large business clients in multi-million dollar contract disputes and class actions. In 2008, Lee joined Stueve Siegel Hanson, where he has focused on securities fraud, commercial disputes, and consumer rights and has represented many thousands of workers throughout the United States seeking unpaid wages from multi-billion dollar employers. As a member of the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, Lee has served on the YLS Board as Chair of the Ross T. Roberts Inn of Court and is a member of the Federal Courts Advocates Section. He is a 2007 graduate of the KCMBA Bar Leadership Academy. In 2010, he received the President's Award from the KCMBA Young Lawyers' Section.

Lee received his J.D. from the University of Missouri, Kansas City, magna cum laude, Order of Barristers, with an emphasis in litigation. During law school, Lee served on the Moot Court Board and the Law Review, receiving the Candler S. Rogers Award for the best legal writing submitted to the Law Review. He also served on UMKC's National Trial Team at the national competition in Boston, defeating Harvard Law School. Lee received his B.S. in philosophy and English (cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, University Scholar) and his M.A. in English from the University of South Dakota, in his home town of Vermillion. As a graduate student at USD, Lee taught literature and composition. Before law school, Lee worked as Assistant Vice President and Electronic Banking Manager for Citizens Bank & Trust.

Representative Litigation at Stueve Siegel Hanson:
Garcia, et al. v. Tyson Foods, Inc. et al.: Lee assisted lead counsel in a wage and hour class action trial against Tyson Foods on behalf of a class of workers at Tyson's Holcomb, Kansas facility.  The plaintiffs alleged they were not paid for the time they spent putting on and taking off protective clothing and gear and the time they spent walking throughout the huge meat processing facilities.  The plaintiffs won major victories in defeating Tyson's multiple bids for summary judgment.  The trial court granted class and collective action certification of a class of approximately 5,000 Holcomb, Kansas workers.  In March 2011, a federal jury in Kansas found against Tyson for violating the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Kansas Wage Payment Act (KWPA).  

McCormack-Missouri Wireless, Inc., et al. v. George K. Baum Advisors LLC, et al.: In this securities case against investment bankers and brokers for statutory and common law fraud, Lee represents more than a dozen independent telephone companies and not-for-profit co-ops in Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, and Kentucky seeking to recover more than $25 million they invested in Crossroads Wireless.

Gipson v. Southwestern Bell Telephone Co.: Lee represented nearly 2,000 call center workers seeking unpaid overtime in Southwestern Bell's five-state southwest region. The case concluded with a confidential settlement.

Dernovish et al. v. AT&T Operations: When Stueve Siegel Hanson's prosecution of the case against Southwestern Bell (see above) attracted the attention of call center workers employed by Bell's affiliate AT&T Operations, Lee and his colleagues at SSH filed suit against AT&T in the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. More than 1,000 workers joined the case, which concluded with a confidential settlement.

Teeter v. NCR Corp.: In the United States District Court for the Central District of California, the employer of Customer Engineers across the United States agreed to pay $10.5 million to settle claims for unpaid wages. Stueve Siegel Hanson negotiated this settlement on behalf of the class of employees while a motion by NCR was pending in which it sought to dispose of the majority of the class claims on summary judgment.

Because of his depth of experience with FLSA collective actions, Lee has also had key supporting roles in numerous FLSA cases seeking recovery of unpaid wages from large employers across the country.  Among these are cases against Dell Computer, Amsted Industries, MASCO and R.J. Reynolds.

Cost of Insurance Litigation: Lee represents consumers seeking recovery of overcharges on various types of life insurance policies issued by some of the nation's largest insurance companies. SSH has filed multiple lawsuits around the United States to enforce consumers' rights. See our Cost of Insurance investigation page, http://www.stuevesiegel.com/CM/Custom/TOCCurrentCases.asp, or contact Lee for more information.

COMMUNITY
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