2019 Lifetime Achievement
Wayne Lee
Martinet’s Lifetime Achievement Award is given to a member who has given a lifetime to service to Martinet and to the legal profession.
Wayne Lee is our 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. Working as an agent for social change for the betterment of the greater community, Mr. Lee has served as a member of the Tulane Law Review Board of Directors and former member to the Order of the Coif (top 10% of his class) at Tulane University. Mr. Lee has served in every single leadership level within the Louisiana State Bar Association (Board of Governors, House of Delegates, Chair of various committees, Board of Directors to the Louisiana Bar Foundation) all of which culminated in his historic election as the first African-American president of the Louisiana State Bar Association (2003-2004). Mr. Lee has held significant leadership roles within the American Bar Association (House of Delegates, Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession, Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary) and has been active in the Tulane Inn of Court, AP Tureaud Inn of Court, the National Bar Association, and the Louis A. Martinet Legal Society.
Mr. Lee has received the New Orleans Bar Association’s Professionalism Award, Federal Bar Association’s Professionalism Award, the Louisiana Bar Federation’s Distinguished Attorney award, and has been inducted into the Tulane Law School Hall of Fame, as well as the to the National Bar Association’s Hall of Fame, and is a recipient of the Louisiana Bar Association’s Diversity Award.
Mr. Lee’s commitment to education and betterment of the legal profession is reflected by his appointments to the Tulane University Board of Administrators, his alma mater, the Tulane University School of Law (Dean’s Council), Tulane University Medical Center, Tulane University Paralegal Studies Advisory Committee, and Board of Regents for Higher Education for the State of Louisiana. Additionally, Mr. Wayne Lee is a graduate of St. Augustine High School, and is a member of its board of directors.
Long before law firms and companies and bar associations were focused upon diversity & inclusion in the profession, Mr. Lee developed the Minority Clerkship Program more than 20 years ago to ensure that he was not the last to serve in such roles. This program served the important purpose of bringing minority law students in Louisiana together with seasoned attorneys, for networking and recruitment.