About Lee

Lee Fink is a Tustin native who has gone from stepping off the Tustin Tiller Days Parade as drum major of the Foothill Marching Band to serving in the highest levels of the federal government to representing Fortune 500 Companies in multi-million dollar litigation.  As a community volunteer, he has organized food drives, connected clients to free and low-cost legal services, and served on local government commissions.

Now, Lee is running for Tustin City Council because he wants Tustin to be a leader in keeping our citizens safe and healthy while working to restore our economy and building a bright future that honors our community's legacy.

Growing Up in Tustin

Lee grew up in Tustin, where he attended Loma Vista Elementary, Hewes Middle School, and Foothill High School.  Lee’s community involvement dates back to adolescence. At Hewes, Lee’s classmates elected him seventh grade Vice President.  At FHS, he not only led the band to multiple first place trophies, but also ushered Bandos to participate in community events for neighborhoods, preschools, and for senior citizens.  He served on the ASB Cabinet as the Inter-Club Council President and as student representative on the Foothill Site Council which helped plan developments for the school.  Lee also tutored students at Heideman Elementary School, and was humbled to be chosen by the Tustin Kiwanis Club as Young Man of the Month.

College Years

Lee attended college at the University of California, Berkeley, graduating in 1998.  He was elected Student Body Vice President, played tuba in the Cal Band, and worked as a director of a student-run program to identify internships in Washington DC for other Cal students.

After college, Lee attended NYU Law School where he worked in the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office helping to convict child predators.  He also served as the Editor-in-Chief of a law journal and was inducted into the Order of the Barrister upon graduation in 2001.  Lee also led the unique High School Law Institute, which taught introductory law courses to inner-city students in New York public schools.

Experienced Businessman, Lawyer, and Professor

In 2002, Lee joined O’Melveny & Myers, LLP, the largest and oldest law firm in Southern California.  There, he represented some of the biggest companies in the country including Sony, The Walt Disney Company, FedEx, and TimeWarner.  After a long stretch in public service, Lee re-turned to the private sector in 2018, where he has represented large companies, small businesses, and consumers in complex litigation and employment disputes.

In addition to practicing law, Lee is teaching the next generation too.  He is an Adjunct Professor at Western State University College of Law in Irvine, one of three ABA accredited law schools in Orange County.  He teaches Administrative Law and designed a course in Election Law.

Government Service

Lee has spent half of his career in public service. Directly from law school, he returned to Tustin and was honored to work a one-year clerkship for Federal District Judge David O. Carter. In 2009, Lee re-entered public service as a senior official in the federal government.  In Washington, DC, he worked at NASA as Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, where he was instrumental in getting the 2010 NASA Authorization Act passed by Congress, which ultimately led to the triumphant launch of US astronauts on commercial rockets this year. At the US Department of Agriculture, Lee was the Principal Deputy General Counsel where he helped implement new regulations allowing faith-based organizations to participate in government-sponsored services to the needy and ensured that more kids throughout the country had access to school lunches and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programs.

In 2017, Lee came home to Tustin as Deputy General Counsel for the Orange County Employees Retirement System (OCERS) where he helped protect pensions of Orange County sheriffs, fire-fighters, and other public servants.  Lee continues his government service, serving as a member of the Orange County Waste Management Commission, having previously served on local planning and budget commissions.

Community Volunteer

Lee has been an active volunteer in the community.  He served on the Board of Directors of the Tustin Community Foundation, and spent the last three Tustin Chili Cookoffs running the TCF Beer Booth.  He is an active member of, and previously served as Legal Counsel for the Tustin Chamber of Commerce.  He continues to serve as a member of the Board of Directors of Family Promise Orange County, an interfaith organization dedicated to ending family homelessness in Orange County.  He is also proud 2017 graduate of the Tustin Citizens Police Academy, a past co-Chair of the Pro Bono Committee of the Orange County Bar where he helps coordinate free and reduced-priced legal services, and a supporter of the Tustin Historical Society, having opened his home to the public for the 2019 Old Town Home Tour.

Family

Lee married Courtney Long, who also grew up in Orange County, at Bowers Museum in Santa Ana in 2021.  They have a young daughter Jamie.  Lee, Courtney, and Jamie live in Old Town Tustin, about two miles from where Lee grew up, along with their two cats (Ganymede and Bea Arthur), and their beagle Replevin.  Their home, built in 1925, is part of the Mills Act program for historic preservation.