Honors & Awards
Moore & Lee is listed in the Chambers Guide to the World’s Leading Lawyers, USA, AV rated in Martindale-Hubbell®, The Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers, The Legal 500® for Real Estate and Construction, and Super Lawyers®.
Mr. Lee is listed in The Best Lawyers in America (2007-2023). Recently, Mr. Lee was selected by his peers for recognition of his professional excellence in Construction Law and Construction Litigation in the 29th Edition of The Best Lawyers in America©.
Mr. Lee is also listed in Super Lawyers®, The Top Lawyers in Virginia (2006-2023), Who’s Who Legal: Construction 2023 and Super Lawyers®, Corporate Counsel Edition.
Chambers, USA, “America’s Leading Lawyers in Business” lists Mr. Lee as one of the leading lawyers in Construction Law.
Mr. Lee was selected as a Fellow by the Advisory Board of the Litigation Counsel of America.
Biography
Charlie C.H. Lee is a founding partner of Moore & Lee, LLP. He practices in all areas of litigation, focusing in construction, healthcare, general and professional liability, gaming, and corporate and commercial law. Mr. Lee has vast and unique experience in representing large national corporations, healthcare and long term care institutions, privately and publicly owned senior care providers, hospitals, insurers, sureties, Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), investment and other private equity groups, gaming and hotel companies, developers, owners, engineers, and large scale general contractors.
Mr. Lee has negotiated over 2,500 settlements in business disputes, general and professional liability claims, general and complex litigation matters, and class action suits. Throughout his career of more than thirty years, he has successfully managed, arbitrated, tried and appealed a variety of litigation matters around the country. His trial experience extends to various state and federal courts in more than thirty-six jurisdictions including California, Nevada, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Florida, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and various administrative boards of contract appeals. Mr. Lee’s appellate practice includes appeals in the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth, Sixth, Ninth, Eleventh and Federal Circuits, the Supreme Court of California, the Supreme Court of Florida, the New York Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the Tennessee Supreme Court, the Supreme Court of Virginia, California Courts of Appeal, Florida District Courts of Appeal, Indiana Court of Appeals, Maryland Court of Special Appeals, New York Supreme Court (Appellate Division), Superior Court of Pennsylvania, and Tennessee Court of Appeals.
In addition to his litigation practice, Mr. Lee manages and coordinates legal matters on behalf of clients with a nationwide business presence. In that capacity, he oversees and coordinates the efforts of numerous outside counsel to ensure that unified and consistent positions are asserted on behalf of the client, that effective and efficient legal strategies are employed, and that legal spend is controlled. He regularly counsels clients regarding policies and procedures for multi-layered national corporations, including effectively minimizing litigation risks. He frequently lectures clients and industry professionals about litigation trends, recent case law, and best business practices to avoid litigation altogether. Mr. Lee is uniquely qualified to analyze, edit and revise legal documents that address current issues such as arbitrability, indemnification, waivers, risk allocation, limitations on liability, subrogation, and other current matters. He routinely assesses and manages liability and contract risks for owners, developers, contractors, sureties, REITs, self-insured corporations and insurance carriers providing primary and excess coverages. Mr. Lee’s experience allows his clients to effectively and efficiently manage risks in prosecuting and defending claims and lawsuits as well as provide stability and general predictability of exposure, if any. Additionally, Mr. Lee effectively provides advice and counsel regarding public relations in high profile cases.
Finally, Mr. Lee has the privilege to serve as an arbitrator on the Construction Panel and Sports Panel for the American Arbitration Association.
Education
- J.D., American University, 1989
- B.S., Virginia Tech, 1986
Bar Admissions
- Virginia
- Florida
- Washington
- District of Columbia
- New York
- Nevada
- Georgia
- Texas
- United States Supreme Court
- United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
Affiliations
Mr. Lee is the founder and past-president of the Asian-American Bar Association of Virginia, and a member of the Virginia State Bar, District of Columbia Bar, Florida State Bar, Washington State Bar, New York State Bar, Georgia State Bar, Nevada State Bar, and the American Bar Association.
Testimonials
Dear Charlie: [J]ust a short note to express my gratitude for the way you handled yourself in the mediations yesterday. Your demeanor and professionalism went a long way in getting the cases settled, especially given the fact that you were dealing with a tough and potentially volatile plaintiffs’ counsel. I have been around the court system for more [than] 50 years as a trial lawyer, trial judge, and Iowa Supreme Court justice. During that time I have dealt with hundreds and hundreds of lawyers. In demeanor and professionalism, in my book, you rank among the best of them. It was a pleasure working with you, and I hope our paths will cross again.
– Retired Iowa Supreme Court Chief Justice Lou Lavorato
While I was General Counsel at Emeritus Corporation, a publicly traded healthcare company with more than 30,000 employees, Charlie Lee and his team at Moore & Lee were an indispensable partner of ours. My confidence in them was and remains unshakable. Their intimate knowledge of the long-term care industry and related litigation risks, combined with Charlie’s unique ability to read people, understand the importance of nuance in litigation, and negotiate the best outcomes, unquestionably saved us millions of dollars.
The legal process in this country is characterized by procedural complexity and potential conflicts of interests that don’t always serve the client’s interests. The role that Moore & Lee played in managing our defense counsel around the country resulted in lower overall cost and the best possible outcome. Charlie’s knowledge of and relationship with defense counsel, the plaintiffs’ bar, and the judiciary across the country enable him to bring about results that no other lawyer or law firm can so consistently achieve.
– Mark A. Finkelstein, Chief Legal & Administrative Officer, Blucora, Inc.
Notable Representation
- Primary strategic, oversight, and settlement counsel for major long-term care and skilled nursing companies.
- Outside general litigation counsel for large real estate investment and development entity.
- Part of apex legal team defending and negotiating settlements for company in lawsuits arising from mass shooting.
- Lead counsel in lawsuit related to $1B project for the construction of bridges throughout Pennsylvania.
- Lead counsel in dispute related to a signature bridge project in Florida.
- County of Monroe v. Raytheon Co., 48 A.D. 3d 1237, 852 N.Y.S. 2d 549 (4th Dept. 2008).
- Bell BCI Co. v. U.S., 81 Fed.Cl. 617 (2008).
- Bell BCI Co. v. Old Dominion Demolition Corp., 294 F.Supp.2d 807 (E.D.Va. 2003).
- Sunrise Assisted Living, Inc. v. Sunrise Healthcare Corp., 1999 WL 33798757 (E.D.Va. 1999).
- Vulcan Painters, Inc. v. MCI Constructors, Inc., 41 F.3d 1457 (11th Cir. (Ala.) 1995).
- Won partial summary judgment against an architect/engineer in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on a $185 million condominium project leading to a multi-million dollar settlement.
- Won a multi-million judgment in Federal Court of Claims against United States on National Institute of Health project involving disruption, delay and cumulative impact.
- Won default termination case against the District of Columbia and obtained a multi-million dollar settlement on a wastewater treatment project.
- Won default termination case against the Department of the Navy in the Court of Federal Claims.
- Won federal bench trial against a major subcontractor on a $120 million prison project.
- Obtained multi-million dollar jury verdict against design builder on a residential project.
- Obtained a multi-million award in federal jury trial against design professional on a local jail project.
- Obtained summary judgment against defaulted subcontractor in federal court on a $160 million wastewater treatment project.
Personal
Mr. Lee is a former five time world karate champion, a member of the Black Belt Hall of Fame, and holds a 8th degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do.