LEADING WITH CURIOSITY AND COURAGE:
How AUWCL Alumna Michele Lee Became a Trailblazer in Tech Law
BY KEITH PIERCE
For Michele Lee ’05, the road to becoming general counsel at Pinterest began in an unexpected place — her father’s deli in Harrison, New Jersey. As a child, she spent afternoons watching “Matlock” on a tiny black-and-white television, captivated by the way a lawyer could uncover the truth and deliver justice.
That early fascination with the law deepened over time. As the child of immigrant parents, Lee became aware of how legal systems oſten remained opaque to those without insider knowledge. She wanted to understand how the world
worked — not just for herself, but to help others navigate it.
Lee’s passion for justice led her to intern at the Public Defender Service in Washington, D.C., where she conducted investigations and gathered
witness statements. “It was eye-opening,” she recalls. “To bring justice, you have to do the work — talk to people, reconstruct stories, find witnesses.”
That experience cemented her decision to attend AUWCL, a choice that was reinforced aſter sitting in on Professor Jamie Raskin’s constitutional law class.
But when she entered law school, she had no road map for her career. “I had no idea what I would do aſter graduating,” Lee admits. She took a part-time job at a plaintiff-side antitrust firm, which led to a law clerk position at White & Case and, eventually, a full-time associate role.
That first job set her on a path toward corporate law. Over time, her natural curiosity and willingness to embrace new challenges led her to in-house roles, culminating in her position as general counsel at Pinterest.
As general counsel, she oversaw a large team juggling a wide array of legal issues, from complex commercial deals and employment law to AI regulation, privacy law, and copyright.
“People ask if it’s boring to have just one client,” she said with a laugh. “But within a company like Pinterest, there are multiple stakeholders — each with different priorities. No two days were the same.”
Navigating the future of AI and data privacy, she emerged as a leading voice in tech law, particularly in the area of AI regulation.
“We’re still at the early stages of understanding how AI fits into legal practice,” she noted. “Right now, we see some companies using AI for contract review or issue-spotting, but broader applications are still evolving.”
Michele Lee joined fellow GCs at the ChIPs (Chiefs in Intellectual Property) Summit in Washington, D.C., to discuss leadership and being a force for good in the industry.
30 THE ADVOCATE SUMMER/FALL 2025
She also closely monitored global regulatory trends, particularly those in the European Union, which has taken the lead in tech governance and AI policy.
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