Southfield attorney Michael K. Lee will become the chairman of the Detroit Urban League at its Board of Commissioners meeting on February 13, 2002. The Detroit Urban League is an organization that was formed 87 years ago to help African-Americans and other people of color to reach their fullest potential. Lee will accept the highly respected Urban League's presidential gavel on March 20, 2003 at the Annual Warriors Dinner at the Marriott Renaissance Center in Detroit.

"Michael is a tireless advocate for the people of Detroit and for all people in Michigan," said Reginald M. Turner, president of the State Bar of Michigan. "He has done a tremendous amount for the legal profession, his community and the Detroit Urban League." Turner also pointed to Lee's civic and leadership roles at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Citizens for Affirmative Action's Preservation, United Way Community Services (Youth-At-Risk Allocations Committee), Fair Housing Center of Metropolitan Detroit, The American Civil Liberties Union, and the Southern Poverty Law Center.

A former president of the D. Augustus Straker Bar Association, Lee also remains an active member of the Wolverine, Oakland County, Detroit Metropolitan, National and the American Bar Associations. He has also served as a member of the Special Committee on 21st Century Courts, and the Judicial Qualifications Committee, and is a member of the Labor and Employment Law, Litigation, General Practice and Real Property Sections of the State Bar.

Lee was recognized by the Young Lawyer's Section of the State Bar of Michigan for Commitment to Diversity and he is the recipient of the D. Augustus Straker Bar Association's President's Award in 2002. He also received the National Bar Association's Region VI Outstanding Affiliate Award for exceptional service in 2002.

Lee is a founding shareholder of Amberg, Firestone and Lee, P.C. where he focuses on public sector labor law, insurance defense, real property, civil rights and commercial litigation. He received his B.S. in Communication Studies from Northwestern University in 1982 and his J.D. from the University of Texas at the Austin School of Law in 1985.