John Z. Lee is a United States Circuit Judge serving on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.  President Joseph Biden nominated Judge Lee to the Court of Appeals on April 25, 2022. The nomination was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 7, 2022. He is the first Asian Pacific American judge to serve on the Seventh Circuit. Prior to his elevation to the Seventh Circuit, Judge Lee served for ten years as a United States District Judge for the Northern District of Illinois. 

Before joining the federal judiciary, Judge Lee was a partner at the Chicago law firm of Freeborn & Peters LLP, where his areas of focus included: antitrust and trade regulation; intellectual property litigation; and complex dispute litigation. Judge Lee also practiced at the law firms of Mayer Brown and Grippo & Elden LLP. Prior to private practice, Judge Lee served in the United States Department of Justice in Washington, DC, as a Trial Attorney in the Environmental & Natural Resources Division. 

Judge Lee was born in Germany and spent his early childhood in South Korea. He immigrated to the United States when he was four years old and grew up in Chicago. Judge Lee attended Harvard University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Classics, and received his Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School.