Overview
Craig Y. Lee is a partner in the Antitrust and Competition practice of Paul Hastings and is based in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. He brings 13 years of experience as a federal prosecutor to assist clients with issues concerning international and domestic antitrust matters, including cartel defense, criminal investigations, and litigation.
Mr. Lee previously served as Assistant Chief of the Washington Criminal 1 Section of the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division, where he led teams of trial attorneys in prominent investigations and prosecutions of antitrust violations and related crimes, such as bribery, fraud, and obstruction of justice. He played leading roles in multiple criminal antitrust trials, several international and domestic cartel matters, and the first successfully litigated extradition of a foreign national for an antitrust violation. Mr. Lee received four Antitrust Division Assistant Attorney General Awards of Distinction and the Washington Field Office’s FBI Service Award for his work on criminal and civil enforcement while with the DOJ. Mr. Lee also served as a Special Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia and as a judicial clerk in the Western District of Louisiana.
Mr. Lee defends companies and executives facing criminal antitrust, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), False Claims Act (FCA), and other white-collar investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice and other agencies. He assists clients in responding to grand jury subpoenas and search warrants, conducting internal investigations, and enhancing corporate compliance programs. He helps companies navigate the leniency process in the United States and foreign jurisdictions. Mr. Lee also provides advice and counseling for civil antitrust issues and represents clients in follow-on litigation. He also advises clients facing Civil Investigative Demands (CIDs) and federal and state government investigations related to prescription drug pricing. Mr. Lee’s experience spans a variety of industries, including pharmaceuticals, oil and gas, ocean transportation, automotive parts, and marine products.
Accolades
- Legal 500, Recommended for Antitrust: Civil Litigation/Class Actions: Defense
- Global Competition Review, GCR 100 (2022)
- Who's Who Legal, “Competition Future Leaders – Partners” (multiple years)
- Winner, Antitrust Writing Awards, Institute of Competition Law (2019)
- Washington Field Office's FBI Service Award (for work prosecuting government fraud) (2017)
- Recipient, four Antitrust Division Assistant Attorney General Awards of Distinction (for criminal and civil antitrust enforcement) (2016, two awards) (2015 and 2007)
Education
- Northwestern University School of Law, J.D. (cum laude), 2002
- Northwestern University, B.A., 1997
Representations
- Represented international manufacturing company in DOJ criminal investigation for price fixing.
- Represented C-level executive in DOJ criminal investigation for no poach, wage fixing, and price fixing.
- Represented international service company in DOJ criminal investigation for fraud, money laundering, and bribery and DOJ civil investigation for false claims.
- Represented international manufacturing company in DOJ employee no-poach investigation.
- Represented C-level executive of an international company in DOJ criminal investigation for bid rigging and price fixing.
- Advised multiple domestic and international companies on applying for leniency in various jurisdictions, responding to grand jury subpoenas and civil investigative demands, and developing antitrust compliance programs.
- Served as lead DOJ trial counsel in a three-week jury trial in the District of Puerto Rico of an executive charged with participating in a price-fixing conspiracy in the coastal freight shipping industry.
- Served as co-lead DOJ trial counsel in a two-week jury trial in the District of Puerto Rico of an executive charged with participating in a price-fixing conspiracy in the coastal freight shipping industry.
- Served as DOJ trial counsel in a four-week jury trial in the Southern District of Florida of two executives charged with participating in an international antitrust conspiracy related to the manufacture and sale of marine products.
- Led DOJ team in the Southern District of Florida that litigated the first successful extradition of a foreign national for an antitrust charge.
- Served on DOJ team that sued in the District of Delaware to block a $34 billion merger in the oilfield services industry.
Matters may have been completed before joining Paul Hastings.
Engagement & Publications
Events
- Panel Speaker, “U.S. Cartel Enforcement: Where Are We Going?,” 71st ABA Section of Antitrust Law Spring Meeting, Washington, D.C., March 2023
- Co-presenter, “ABA Cartel and Criminal Practice Bi-Monthly Cartel Update, Recent Trends in Cartel Enforcement,” Washington, D.C., February 2023
- Featured, What Advice Do You Have for a Young Lawyer? Words of Wisdom from Our Guests, ABA Our Curious Amalgam Podcast, June 21, 2021
- Co-presenter, “ABA Cartel and Criminal Practice Bi-Monthly Cartel Update, Recent Trends in Cartel Enforcement,” Washington, D.C., February 2021
- Speaker, The New Normal for Conducting Investigations in a Remote Work Environment, Law.com Webcast, July 16, 2020
- Co-presenter, “Is Leniency Dead? Long Live Leniency,” ABA Our Curious Amalgam Podcast, August 2019
- Co-presenter, “An In-Depth Look into the Paradigm Shift of the DOJ on Corporate Compliance,” Webinar, August 2019
- Panel Speaker, “Cooperation Procedures in Japan, EU, US, and the Rest of the World” and “Dealing with Criminal Liability in Investigations in Japan, US, and UK,” Keidanren Global Competition Law Conference, Tokyo, Japan, July 2019
- Panel Speaker, "Monthly Antitrust Update,” ABA Section of Antitrust Law, Corporate Counseling Committee, Washington, D.C., December 18, 2018
- Moderator, “Understanding CFIUS Risks, Compliance Issues, and Due Diligence in M&A Transactions,” Annual Anti-Corruption, Export Controls, and Trade Sanctions Update, Washington, D.C.
- Co-presenter as NGA, “Scoping and Focusing an Investigation – Cartel Settlement Mechanisms,” International Competition Network Cartel Workshop, Tel Aviv, Israel, October 2018
- Panel Speaker, “Global Antitrust Trends in the Trump Era,” International Association of Korean Lawyers Annual Conference, Atlanta, GA, September 2018
- Co-presenter, "Dawn Raids for Antitrust, Tax, and Anti-bribery: How to be prepared globally," Webinar, May 2018
- Panel Speaker, “The Role of Competition Law in Dynamic and Innovative Markets,” Keidanren Global Competition Law Conference, Tokyo, Japan, May 2018
- Co-presenter, "Dawn Raids for Antitrust, Tax, and Anti-bribery: How to be prepared globally," May 2018
- Panel Speaker, "Trends and Developments in Global Competition Law—International Cartel Enforcement Panel," Interdisciplinary Centre for Competition Law and Policy Conference, Brussels, Belgium, May 2018 and May 2017
- Panel Speaker, "Antitrust Ethics…At the Movies," 66th ABA Section of Antitrust Law Spring Meeting, Washington, D.C., April 2018
- Panel Speaker, Antitrust Enforcement Panel, ABA’s 32nd Annual National Institute on White Collar Crime, San Diego, CA, February 2018
- Panel Speaker, “WhatsApp: Detecting Problems and Managing Risk in the Age of Encryption and Disappearing Evidence,” ABA Corporate Counsel CLE Seminar, Palm Springs, FL, February 2018
- Moderator, "Issues in M&A," Annual Anti-Corruption, Export Controls, and Trade Sanctions Update, Washington, D.C., October 2017
- Closing Speaker, "When You Are Not First: An Inside Look at How the United States Tries Cartel Cases and the Risks and Rewards of Being Last," Mind the Gap Monckton and Des Voeux Chambers Symposium on Hong Kong competition law, Hong Kong, PRC, September 2017
Media Mentions
- Quoted, DOJ Doc Pushes For Strong Antitrust Compliance Programs, Law360, November 13, 2024
- Quoted, A Per Se Setback For DOJ’s No-Poach Prosecutions, Law360, May 4, 2023
- Mentioned, Compliance Hot Spots: DOJ Unveils New 'Inability to Pay' Guidance | 'Unfortunate Series of Events' in CFTC Dust-up | SEC Is Hiring New Chief Data Officer | All the New Moves, Law.com, October 8, 2019
- Mentioned, Appointments, The Washington Post, October 7, 2019
- Mentioned, Career Tracker: Lawyers on the move – Oct. 7, 2019, Reuters, October 7, 2019
- Mentioned, Going to the mat: The Tipline for 2 October 2019, Global Competition Review, October 2, 2019
- Mentioned, Wake Up Call: Big Firms, ACLU Get Millions in Fees in Census Litigation Win, Bloomberg Big Law Business, October 2, 2019
Publications
- Co-author, A Tale Of Two Cases: Lessons In No-Poach Litigation, Law360, January 6, 2022
- Co-author, All That Glitters – A Look Back at the Antitrust Division’s Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs and What to Expect, Competition Policy International, November 16, 2021
- Co-author, What Cartel Enforcement Under Biden’s DOJ Might Look Like, Law360, July 15, 2021
- Co-author, Procurement Fraud Enforcement & Business Impact, Bloomberg Law, June 23, 2021
- Co-author, Comparing the Antitrust Division’s New Compliance Policy with the Criminal Division’s Updated Policy, Bloomberg Law, August 2019
- Co-author, How to Create and Continuously Improve Your Antitrust and Anti-Corruption Compliance Program, Bloomberg Law, September 12, 2018
- Co-author, The stories merger documents tell—the US, EU, Asia, Brazil, Mexico, and South Africa perspectives, European Competition Law Review, Volume 39, Issue 4, 2018
- Co-author, When Merger Review Turns Criminal, Deal Points, Volume XXII, Issue 3, Fall 2017; also in Business Law Today, December 14, 2017