More than any member of the Class of 2009, Mike Lee has grabbed the media spotlight, gaining notice in The Wall Street Journal and Al Jazeera, as well as local outlets like The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The attention has resulted from Lee’s devastatingly effective advocacy on behalf of those hobbled by outdated or inaccurate information that appears in the National Criminal History Record File and other databases.
As of December 2014, Lee estimates that the Criminal Record Expungement Project of Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity, which he founded and directs, had successfully filed 3,000 petitions with the Court of Common Pleas, clearing the records of some 450 people.
Because Lee has recruited other attorneys to volunteer with the organization and trained 100 more (so far), the ripples extend farther, allowing ever more Philadelphians to escape the shadow of flawed criminal records that stand in the way of jobs, housing and educational opportunities.
The outreach to fellow attorneys is a critical part of Lee’s mission, since it raises awareness of flaws in the criminal justice system that put those who can’t afford attorneys at a costly disadvantage.
“The lack of information people have when they enter a guilty plea is particularly troubling,” Lee said, noting that those who cannot afford bail often admit to crimes they didn’t commit or to greater crimes than the ones they really did commit, just to get out of jail.
Because the long term implications didn’t factor into their decisions, many Philadelphians suffer the consequences for decades, Lee said.
Criminal records are themselves frequently wrong, Lee added, contending that one-third of the information that finds its way into the FBI database is inaccurate.
Lee aims not only to help individuals, but to change the way society views those who have criminal records and ultimately, the entire criminal justice system.
“The more people we can get to start that part of the conversation,” he said, “the better.”
Although criminal records expungement remains PLSE’s core mission, the organization has launched the Fair Employment Opportunities Project, in partnership with the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights under Law and several pro bono lawyers from the private bar.
The FEOP itself scored a victory in March 2014, when Sunoco agreed to implement new hiring practices that give job applicants with criminal records a fair chance at getting hired.
Recognition has come to Lee from the Young Lawyers Division of the Philadelphia Bar Association, which awarded him the F. Sean Peretta Service Award in 2013.
The Philadelphia Barristers Association has named Lee the 2015 Outstanding Young Lawyer.
Lee is somewhat surprised to find himself in this situation, since he vowed as a child never to enter the same profession as his father, Bernard Lee, a partner at Cozen O’Connor who co-chairs the Real Estate Practice.
Professional responsibilities, Lee recalled, had forced his father to sacrifice many events at school and activities at home.
Though thrilled that his father will introduce him when he receives the Barristers Association’s award, Lee said that it’s sometimes hard to maintain the independent professional identity he would like.
When Lee excitedly called to tell his father about the award, his dad had already heard the news from colleagues.
Sometimes there is simply no escaping one’s past.