Rebecca K. Lee

J.D., Georgetown University Law Center;

M.P.P., Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government;

B.A., University of Chicago, with honors and general honors

Professor Rebecca K. Lee is an expert in the areas of employment discrimination, employment law, affirmative action, and leadership. She has written on the relationship between diversity and antidiscrimination objectives, the importance of organizational leadership in achieving substantive equality, empathy in judicial decisionmaking, the constitutionality and relevance of affirmative action, sex harassment and the gendered organization, and class assumptions in the judicial interpretations of sex harassment. Her work has been quoted in the amicus briefs for the State of California and other amici filed in the U.S. Supreme Court for Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin (Fisher I), as well as quoted in the amicus brief for the State of California in Fisher II. Professor Lee has served as a past Chair of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Section on Labor Relations and Employment Law. She is a board member of the Conference of Asian Pacific American Law Faculty (CAPALF) as well as a board member of the Western Law Professors of Color (WLPOC).

Professor Lee was a Visiting Professor of Law at UC Irvine School of Law in Fall 2018, where she taught contracts.  As a full-time faculty member at Thomas Jefferson, she primarily teaches and has taught contracts, employment discrimination, employment law, and business associations.  In addition, she was faculty co-director of the school's Employee Rights Self-Help Workshop from 2013-2018.  Before joining the faculty, she was a Visiting Researcher at Georgetown University Law Center and practiced law at the international law firm of Crowell & Moring LLP in Washington, D.C. Her practice centered on employment and labor law, government contracts, and antitrust matters. She also worked at the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs as a Crowell & Moring Public Interest Fellow. In law school, she served as or-in-chief of the Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law and Policy and worked as a judicial intern for the Honorable Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Prior to attending law school, Professor Lee earned a Master's degree in Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School, where she received the Dean Albert Carnesale Fellowship and was co-managing or of the Asian American Policy Review. Before pursuing her graduate studies, she joined Teach for America as a corps member and taught at an under-resourced middle school in Oakland, California. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Policy Studies from the University of Chicago. At Chicago, she was awarded a University Prize for her senior thesis, which was selected as the best undergraduate paper written in the area of women's studies, feminist criticism, or gender studies and subsequently published in a law journal.

Courses Include: Contracts, Employment Law, Employment Discrimination, and Business Associations.

Articles, Book Chapters, And Article-Length Works

Beyond the Rhetoric: What It Means to Lead in a Diverse and Unequal World, 71 STAN. L. REV. ONLINE 110 (2018)

Introduction to Emotions at Work: The Employment Relationship in an Age of Anxiety, 19 Em. Rts. & Emp. Pol'y J. 43 (2015), available at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2971603

The Future of Workplace Affirmative Action After Fisher, 89 St. John's L. Rev. 597 (2015), available at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2971618

Judging Judges: Empathy as the Litmus Test for Impartiality, 82 U. Cin. L. Rev. 145 (2013), available at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2460626

Sonia Sotomayor: Role Model of Empathy and Ambition (reviewing SONIA SOTOMAYOR: MY BELOVED WORLD (2013)), 98 Minn. L. Rev. Headnotes 33 (2013), available at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2460601

Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin: Promoting Full Judicial Review and Process In Applying Strict Scrutiny, 4 Hous. L. Rev. HLRe 33 (2013), available at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2460593

Justice for All?, (reviewing Judith Resnik & Dennis Curtis, Representing Justice: Invention, Controversy, and Rights in City-States and Democratic Courtrooms (2011)), 65 Vand. L. Rev. En Banc (reviewing Judith Resnik & Dennis Curtis, Representing Justice: Invention, Controversy, and Rights in City 217 (2012), available at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2191310

Implementing Grutter's Diversity Rationale: Diversity and Empathy in Leadership, 19 Duke J. Gender L. & Pol'y 133 (2011), available at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2101573.

Core Diversity, 19 Temp. Pol. & Civ. Rts. L. Rev. 477 (2010), available at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1668107.

The Organization as a Gendered Entity: A Response to Professor Schultz's The Sanitized Workplace, 15 Colum. J. Gender & L. 609 (2006), available at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=983431.

Assimilation at the Cost of Authenticity, 15 Asian Am. Pol'y Rev. 59 (2006) (reviewing Kenji Yoshino, Covering: The Hidden Assault on our Civil Rights (2006)), available at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2971611.

Pink, White, and Blue: Class Assumptions in the Judicial Interpretations of Title VII Hostile Environment Sex Harassment, 70 Brook. L. Rev. 677 (2005), available at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=876362.

Romantic and Electronic Stalking in a College Context, 4 Wm. & Mary J. Women & L. 373 (1998), available at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2971614.

Beyond the Rhetoric: What It Means to Lead in a Diverse and Unequal World, Joint Meeting of the Western Law Professors of Color (WLPOC) and the Conference of Asian Pacific American Law Faculty (CAPALF), William S. Boyd School of Law, University of Nevada-Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV (October 20, 2018)

Roundtable on Affirmative Action and Asian Pacific Americans, Joint Meeting of the Western Law Professors of Color (WLPOC) and the Conference of Asian Pacific American Law Faculty (CAPALF), William S. Boyd School of Law, University of Nevada-Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV (October 19, 2018)

Beyond the Rhetoric: What It Means to Lead in a Diverse and Unequal World, Panel on Unleashing Equality: #MeToo and Sex Harassment Law , Stanford Law School, Palo Alto, CA (May 10, 2018)

Commentary on "What We Know about Equal Employment Opportunity Law after Fifty Years of Trying" by Susan Bisom-Rapp, Gender Sidelining Symposium, California Western School of Law, San Diego, CA (April 27, 2018)

Leadership and Emotions in Challenging Times, Symposium on Advancing Leadership Development in the Legal Profession: Addressing Challenges in Legal Education and the Practice of Law, Santa Clara University School of Law, Santa Clara, CA (March 23, 2018)

Furthering Workplace Diversity After Fisher I & II, Joint Meeting of the Conference of Asian Pacific American Law Faculty (CAPALF) and the Northeast People of Color (NEPOC), Brooklyn Law School , Brooklyn, NY (June 3, 2017)

Furthering Workplace Diversity After Fisher I and II, Symposium on Race of the Races: Privilege, Exclusion, and Inequality among People of Color in the Law, UC Irvine School of Law, Irvine, CA (February 10, 2017)

Furthering Workplace Diversity After Fisher I and II, 17th Annual Women and the Law Conference and 15th Annual Ruth Bader Ginsburg Lecture on Pursuing Inclusion: Diversity in the Workplace, Thomas Jefferson School of Law , San Diego, CA (February 3, 2017)

Panel on Pay Inequity: A Significant Barrier to Gender Equality in the Legal Profession, 2016 National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) Convention, San Diego , CA (November 5, 2016)

Workplace Affirmative Action and Fisher II, Professor Orly Lobel’s Seminar on Work, Welfare, and Justice, University of San Diego School of Law, San Diego, CA (April 5, 2016)

Emotions at Work: The Employment Relationship During an Age of Anxiety, Section on Labor Relations and Employment Law, 2015 Association of American Law Schools Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (January 5, 2015)

The Implications of Fisher v. University of Texas on Workplace Affirmative Action, Title VII at 50 Symposium, hosted by St. John’s University School of Law and the NYU Center for Labor and Employment Law , New York, NY (April 4, 2014)

Reconceptualizing the Judge as Public Leader, 8th Annual Labor and Employment Law Colloquium, William S. Boyd School of Law, University of Nevada-Las Vegas , Las Vegas, NV (September 27, 2013)

Judging Judges: Empathy as the Litmus Test for Impartiality, Prof. Orly Lobel’s Seminar on Work, Welfare, and Justice, University of San Diego School of Law , San Diego, CA (February 14, 2013)

Panelist, Q&A with The Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 13th Annual Women and the Law Conference, Thomas Jefferson School of Law, San Diego, CA (February 8, 2013)

Judging Judges: Empathy as the Litmus Test for Impartiality, Annual Meeting of the Conference of Asian Pacific American Law Faculty, UC Hastings College of Law, San Francisco, CA (February 2, 2013)

On Judicial Leadership, Seventh Annual Labor and Employment Law Colloquium, hosted by Northwestern University School of Law and Loyola University Chicago School of Law, Chicago, IL (September 15, 2012)

 On Judicial Leadership, Law and Society Association's Annual Meeting, Honolulu, HI (June 8, 2012)

Employment Discrimination in a Diverse Population: An Important Exception to At-Will Employment, Legal Business Conference , San Diego French-American Chamber of Commerce and Thomas Jefferson School of Law, San Diego, CA (April 18, 2012)

Moderator, Panel on Good Faith, 7th International Contracts Conference, Thomas Jefferson School of Law, San Diego, CA (March 3, 2012)

Judging and Empathy: Sixth Annual Labor and Employment Law Colloquium, hosted by Loyola Law School, Southwestern Law School, and UCLA School of Law (September 16, 2011)

Judging and Empathy: Law and Society Association’s Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (June 4, 2011)

Implementing Grutter’s Diversity Rationale: Diversity and Empathy in Leadership: Prof. Orly Lobel’s Seminar on Work, Welfare, and Justice, University of San Diego School of Law (March 8, 2011)

Judging and Empathy: Conference of Asian Pacific American Law Faculty/Western Law Teachers of Color, University of Hawaii Richardson School of Law (December 12, 2010)

Diversity and Empathy in Leadership: Law and Society Association’s Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL (May 30, 2010)

Diversity and Empathy in Leadership: Fourth Annual Critical Race Studies Symposium, UCLA School of Law and co-sponsored by Thomas Jefferson School of Law’s Women and the Law Project (March 11, 2010)

Diversity and Empathy in Leadership: Conference of Asian Pacific American Law Faculty/Western Law Teachers of Color, University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law (March 5, 2010)

Diversity and Empathy in Leadership: Fourth Annual Labor and Employment Law Colloquium, Seton Hall University School of Law (September 25, 2009)

Core Diversity:  Law and Society Association’s Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (May 28, 2009)

Core Diversity:  Third Annual Labor and Employment Law Colloquium, hosted by Thomas Jefferson School of Law, California Western School of Law, and the University of San Diego School of Law (October 24, 2008)

The Thomas Jefferson School of Law faculty is highly prolific in the field of legal scholarship and our professors are in demand as speakers and panelists at legal events in the U.S. and abroad.