Cathy Lee
Ms. Catherine A. Lee, Founder and Manager of Lee International Business Development since 1997, focuses her current practice on climate change policy, projects and programs domestically and internationally. An attorney who serves public- and private-sector clients in South Africa, Brazil, the U.S. and Canada, she advises clients on all aspects of greenhouse gas emissions trading under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, the California Cap and Trade program, the Verified Carbon Standard and other emerging carbon standards, and provides legal services to both sellers and buyers of emissions reductions, municipalities, private and other public sector entities. Lee has extensive experience in the area of waste management and renewable energy. She is fluent in Portuguese, having lived and studied law in Brazil, and has a working knowledge of Spanish.
Prior to establishing Lee International, Cathy was in private practice at a 70-lawyer firm in the state of Maine where she managed the firm’s advocacy work before the state legislature, chaired the firm’s environmental practice group, handled media relations, supervised market research, and served as spokesperson for clients. She represented waste-to-energy, landfill and biomass facility and waste management clients addressing oversight for project evaluations, health and safety compliance issues, state and local permitting, multi-million dollar financing, contract negotiations, and general project management issues.
Cathy’s many memberships include: the New York Bar Association; the Maine State Bar Association; the Maine State Bar Association Women’s Law Section, founding member, Pro-bono subcommittee, chair; the Maine International Trade Center, board of directors, former chair; the University of Southern Maine Business School, board of advisors; the University of Southern Maine Capital Campaign Committee, member; the Lee Auto Mall, board of directors; the Maine Partners of the Americas Program, executive committee; the Business Women’s Association of South Africa; the Institute of Waste Management of Southern Africa; and Safe Passage (a Guatemala-based non-profit that works with children that scavenge at the Guatemala city landfill), former member, board of directors. Among her awards are the 2005 Maine State Bar Association Director’s Award presented by Volunteer Lawyers Association for work in the area of domestic violence; the Maine State Bar Association’s Caroline Dube Glassman Award for service to women in the community; and the 2000 Maine International Trade Center’s Service Provider of the Year Award.
Cathy is a graduate of Barnard College, Columbia University, and the Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University. She is admitted to practice law in the state and federal courts of New York and Maine and the U.S. Supreme Court.
