Chief Administrative Law Judge
Lorraine Lee
Lorraine Lee has served as Chief Administrative Law Judge of the Washington State Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) since July 2009. Governor Jay Inslee reappointed Judge Lee in 2020 for another five-year term. Her public service career includes varied positions in state government over the past 20 years. From 2002-2009, Judge Lee worked at the Liquor Control Board, first as the Licensing Director and, in 2006, became LCB Chairman. She has also been a staff attorney with the Washington State Court of Appeals (Division II), an assistant director at the Washington Lottery, and Policy Advisor for Governors Gary Locke and Mike Lowry on criminal justice issues and matters relating to the courts.
In the early 1990’s, Judge Lee was an appellate lawyer with the Washington Appellate Defender Association, representing indigent criminal defendants before the Washington State Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals (Division I). From 1984 –1990, Judge Lee was a captain in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps, representing soldiers at courts-martial and on appeal, and was an administrative law attorney advising military commanders.
She received her law degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo Law School and her undergraduate degree from the University of Washington.