People

Barbara Jane League Partner

Houston; Miami; Austin

Barbara represents state and local governmental, nonprofit and for-profit corporations, and other market participants in the issuance of qualified 501(c)(3) private activity bonds for eligible residential rental projects for affordable and middle-income housing, as well as related infrastructure financing, including tax and revenue anticipation notes (TRANs). She serves as special tax counsel to one of the largest sports authorities in Texas, with the goal to promote local and community development, including maintenance and expansion of the city’s stadiums and parks.  

She also has significant experience representing nonprofit organizations. Formerly an attorney with the Chief Counsel of the Internal Revenue Service, Barbara has represented clients before the IRS in a variety of matters involving tax-exempt bonds, including audits and private letter ruling requests. She has participated in all facets of the tax analysis associated with the issuance of governmental purpose bonds, certain tax credit bonds, qualified 501(c)(3) bonds, qualified residential rental bonds and qualified small issue bonds.

Barbara has served on the Steering Committee and has chaired the Working Capital panel and the Bond Direct Purchase - Advanced Tax Topics panel for the Bond Attorneys’ Workshop, the oldest and largest annual gathering of bond lawyers.

Jennifer C. Lee Partner

San Francisco

Jennifer defends her clients in federal and state litigation across the country that allege fraud, breach of contract, or securities law violations.  She is a key member of an Orrick trial team that has shaped the legal landscape of RMBS litigation after the 2009 financial crisis, delivering out-of-the box arguments and innovative solutions for her clients, from initial receipt of pre-litigation demands through expert work, summary judgment and trial.

Jennifer's mortgage-backed securities litigation experience, which spans the last decade, includes:

• Representing Credit Suisse Securities in multiple million and billion-dollar actions across the country brought by monoline insurers, trustees, and regulators alleging breaches of representations and warranties, fraud, and securities violations. Recent highlights include conducting direct examination of an expert witness in a trial in February 2023, and securing partial dismissal of claims in December 2023 after arguing a motion to dismiss.
• Representing Goldman Sachs in two RMBS putback actions pending in the Southern District of New York alleging that Goldman breached representations and warranties regarding the characteristics of the deal loans.

Jennifer also has significant mortgage servicing expertise, including the following matters:

• Representing Nationstar in a breach of contract dispute alleging that Nationstar failed to properly service and made misrepresentations regarding thousands of early buy-out loans.
• Representing Ocwen Mortgage Servicing in a consumer class action in the Eastern District of California alleging numerous claims including RICO, California consumer protection statutes and fraud.

Jennifer also represents financial services companies related to commercial disputes, including:

• Representing Pipe Technologies, Inc. in multiple commercial disputes regarding payment of services.
• Representing a large financial services platform in multiple subpoenas issued for production of documents.

Jennifer is dedicated to pro bono work, including asylum claims, a cause close to her heart as a child of immigrants. Prior to joining Orrick, she held a fellowship position in the Law Reform Unit at the Legal Aid Society of New York, litigating both individual cases as well as class actions.

Jennifer was recently recognized as a Rising Star by Law360, one of four top attorneys under 40 in banking.  She was also recognized by the Minority Corporate Counsel Association as a Rising Star this year. 

Jennifer is a leader and advocate for inclusion and belonging initiatives in the legal profession. She leads Orrick's Inclusion & Belonging Committee in San Francisco. She has served as a fellow for the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity, and is active in the California Minority Counsel Program.

Janista Lee Managing Associate

Orange County

Prior to starting at Orrick, Janista spent a year as an Orrick Fellow at Community Legal SoCal in the Complex Litigation Unit, where she worked with community members to advocate for systemic change in Orange County. She earned her JD at the UC Irvine School of Law in 2020. While in law school, she externed for the Honorable Fernando M. Olguin in the Central District Court. She also participated in the Domestic Violence Clinic and committed over 200 hours to pro bono work. Janista served on the Executive Board of the UC Irvine Law Review as the Senior Articles Editor.

Daniel Lee Counsel

Seattle

He represents corporate buyers, project sponsors, developers, and financial institutions in the negotiation of a broad variety of agreements:

• Virtual and physical power purchase agreements, REC agreements, and other long-term offtake contracts for wind and solar;
• Joint ventures, acquisitions, and divestitures of renewable energy project equity and assets;
• Engineering, procurement, and construction agreements;
• Major equipment supply contracts; and
• Interconnection, site control, and other project development transactions.

In addition to project development, Daniel has assisted energy clients in environmental, energy regulatory, restructuring, and financing matters.

Prior to joining Orrick, Daniel was a Senior Counsel at Vestas Development and a Senior Associate in an international law firm’s energy practice group. In these roles, he negotiated transactions involving over 3.5 GWs of renewable energy projects in matters ranging from utility scale to community solar.

Aaron Lee Managing Associate

San Francisco

Aaron advises sponsors, lenders and financial institutions in debt and equity financings across the renewable energy, conventional energy and infrastructure sectors.

As a law student, Aaron worked as a legal intern at the International Finance Corporation. Prior to law school, Aaron worked as a credit ratings analyst for public finance transactions in the water and wastewater sectors. Aaron is also a licensed civil engineer in the State of California.

Julie Lee Senior Associate

Washington, D.C.

Julie focuses her practice on business litigation, and she represents clients across the financial, technology, and energy sectors. She has extensive experience in successfully litigating complex commercial cases, both at the trial and appellate levels. Julie also tailors her experience to our clients' specific needs to achieve favorable results through mediation, arbitration, regulatory proceedings, and strategic business negotiations.

Prior to joining Orrick, Julie was a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Dana M. Sabraw of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California.

Betsy Lee Partner

San Francisco

Previously, Betsy served as a Law Clerk at the National Center For Youth Law (Oakland). Prior to law school, she also worked as an Investigator with the New York City Department of Education and as a Legal Assistant at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP (New York).