John Z. Lee is a United States District Judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Judge Lee was nominated by President Obama on November 10, 2011, and confirmed by the United States Senate on May 7, 2012. Prior to joining the federal bench, Judge Lee was a partner at Freeborn & Peters LLP, where he focused on antitrust and trade regulation, intellectual property litigation, and complex commercial disputes. Before joining Freeborn, Judge Lee also practiced at Mayer Brown and Grippo & Elden and served as a Trial Attorney in the United States Department of Justice. Judge Lee was born in Germany and spent his early childhood in South Korea. He immigrated to the United States when he was four years old. Judge Lee earned a Bachelor of Arts in Classics at Harvard University and received his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School.