Location: Laguna Hills, California
Phone: (949) 729-8002
Fax: 949-729-8012
Martin Lee was a founding member of the law firm and is now retired. Mr. Lee completed his undergraduate education in 1968 as a dean list scholar at the University of California, Santa Barbara, graduating with a membership in the Phi Alpha Beta Honors Society. Mr. Lee completed his legal education at Hastings College of Law (University of California) in San Francisco where he was in the top quarter of his class and obtained his juris doctor degree in 1973. Mr. Lee has also done graduate work at the graduate faculty of the New School for Social Research in New York City and at the University of California, Irvine.
Prior to the formation of the law firm, Mr. Lee was employed as a writer for Matthew Bender, one of the leading publishers in the area of legal writing at the time. Since 1974, Mr. Lee has been admitted to practice before all courts in the state of California and has also been admitted to practice before the Southern District of the United States District Court. Mr. Lee was a frequent contributor of articles for the Community Association Institute (CAI), as well as other association publications.
Mr. Lee directed the firm’s appellate research and briefing department. He has been involved in a number of reported appellate court decisions in the community association field. Laguna Royale Owners Association v. Darger, Cohen v. Kite Hill Community Association, and Harbor View v. Torley are still cited today as landmark decisions. Mr. Lee’s arguments in the Kite Hill case regarding enforcement of CC&Rs were adopted by the California Supreme Court.
Areas of Practice
Homeowners Association Law
Common Interest Development
Bar Admissions
California, 1973
U.S. Federal Courts, 1973
U.S. District Court Southern District of California
Education
University of California, Hastings College of the Law, San Francisco, California
Juris Doctor – 1973
University of California, Santa Barbara, California
B.A., Bachelor of Arts – 1968
Honors: Phi Alpha Beta Honors Society
Honors: Dean list scholar
Representative Cases
Laguna Royale Owners Ass’n v. Darger, 174 Cal.Rptr. 136 (Cal.App. 4 Dist. 1981)
Cohen v. Kite Hill Community Ass’n, 191 Cal.Rptr. 209 (Cal.App. 4 Dist. 1983)