Jiyun Lee is an experienced commercial and employment arbitrator who brings over thirty years of experience resolving complex, high-value disputes across a broad spectrum of industries. Her practice spans commercial contracts, fraud, business torts, technology, biotech, digital assets and cryptocurrency, trade secrets, intellectual property, shareholder and partnership disputes, as well as labor, employment, and collective actions.
Experience
Arbitrator (chair, wing, and sole) on the AAA Large and Complex Commercial, Employment, and Consumer Panels. Serve as Process Arbitrator under the AAA Mass Arbitration Supplementary Rules.
Work History
Partner, Folger Levin LLP, 2009-Present; Partner, Folger Levin & Kahn LLP, 2001-2009; Associate, Folger Levin & Kahn LLP, 1996-2000; Associate, Morrison & Foerster (San Francisco and Tokyo), 1992-1996.
Cases
COMMERCIAL CONTRACTS AND BUSINESS TORTS Experience includes arbitrator and lead counsel roles in matters centered on fraud, breach of contract, interference with contract, misrepresentation, contractual indemnity, breach of fiduciary duty, securities fraud, Civil RICO, corporate control, and specific performance. Chaired a panel in a $9.9 million borrower demand against lending institutions, addressing wrongful foreclosure, tortious interference, and application of federal banking statutes. Frequently navigate dispositive motions, complex damages models, and novel questions regarding arbitrability. TECHNOLOGY AND BIOTECH Industry experience spans app-based platforms, SaaS, software manufacturing, IT consultancy, payment processing, and molecular diagnostic (PCR) testing. As arbitrator, presided over a multi-million dollar contract dispute between a bank and a fintech company regarding digital originations, with central questions of regulatory compliance and limitations of liability. Expertise extends to presenting and evaluating complex expert testimony on computer forensics, spoliation of evidence, platform economics, and molecular testing, including cross-border intellectual property arbitration. SHAREHOLDER AND PARTNERSHIP DISPUTES Significant experience resolving disputes among shareholders and partners, often involving governance, control, and valuation. Served as wing arbitrator in a healthcare finance company dispute, addressing the alleged improper removal of a manager and the associated failure to pay vested equity interests exceeding $100 million. Contested issues included arbitrability, appraisal rights, and collateral estoppel from related court proceedings. Presided as sole arbitrator over disputes between founders over right to compensation and equity interests. TRADE SECRETS AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY Practice in trade secrets and intellectual property marked by emergency relief and injunction experience. Obtained TROs and preliminary injunctions in cases involving unauthorized taking of source code and customer data. Experience includes copyright disputes over source code, clean-room development, Excel models, and business plans. As Panel Chair in an arbitration proceeding, oversaw a five-day hearing involving breach of contract, trade secret misappropriation, copyright infringement, and violation of California Business & Professions Code Section 17200. Managed approximately 16 fact and expert witnesses, and complex electronic evidence. CRYPTOCURRENCY Frequently appointed to arbitrate disputes at the intersection of law and emerging technology, particularly in cryptocurrency and digital assets. Presided over a dispute involving $6.8 million in cryptocurrency losses. Addressed a dispute over an initial coin offering (ICO) in a seven-day arbitration hearing, involving global witnesses and complex issues such as extraterritorial application of U.S. securities laws, token classification, and damages methodology. CLASS AND COLLECTIVE ACTIONS Represented clients in individual and collective actions for wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and violations of wage-and-hour laws, consumer protection statutes, civil rights laws, PAGA, ADA, and WARN Act.
License(s)
California (active)
Education
Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Massachusetts University of California, Santa Cruz, California
Panels
AAA-ICDR Large and Complex Commercial, Employment, and Consumer Panels
Miscellaneous
Lecturer in Law, Stanford Law School, Gould Negotiation and Mediation Program, 2019 – Present Volunteer Mediator, United States District Court, Northern District of California, 2011 – Present
