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title: "John Zihun Lee | KnowJudges"
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updated: "2026-10-09"
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# John Zihun Lee

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · U.S. Circuit Judge

## Profile

- Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
- State: National federal courts
- Role: U.S. Circuit Judge
- Service status: active
- Last verified: 2026-07-25

## Summary

Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge.

## Biography

### Professional career

- American judge serving as a United States Circuit Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit since September 9, 2022
- Judge, District Court, N.D. Illinois, 2012-present
- held the role of a trial attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (1992–1994)

### Education

- Harvard University — J.D. (1992)
- Harvard Law School, J.D., cum laude, 1992
- Harvard University — B.A. (1989)
- Harvard College, A.B., magna cum laude, 1989

### Additional information

- Confirmed by Senate: September 7, 2022 (vote 50–44)
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois: Served from May 8, 2012, to September 12, 2022, appointed by President Barack Obama.
- Madison Metropolitan School District (2018), Lee wrote for a unanimous Seventh Circuit panel holding that a school district was not liable for a student’s sexual abuse by a security guard because the principal lacked actual knowledge of the abuse.
- Private practice, Chicago, IL, 1994-2012
- Born March 30, 1968, in Aachen, West Germany.
- Date of birth: 1968-01-01
- Notable case: In Doe No. 55 v.
- Preceded by: Diane Pamela Wood
- Birth place: Aachen, Germany

## Before you appear

- Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed.
- Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance.
- Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding.

## Courtroom Rules

### appellate oral argument

Scope: courtwide

In federal courts of appeals, oral argument is allowed unless a three-judge panel unanimously finds one of Rule 34's specified grounds for dispensing with it; the clerk provides the date, time, place, and time allocation.

Evidence excerpt: Oral argument must be allowed in every case unless a panel of three judges who have examined the briefs and record unanimously agrees that oral argument is unnecessary

[Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 34, Oral Argument](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-appellate-procedure)
Source checked: 2026-07-26


## Sources

- [Official profile](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1393976)
- [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1393976)
- [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1393976)
- [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/1891/john-zihun-lee/)
- [Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 34, Oral Argument](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-appellate-procedure)
- [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/1891/john-zihun-lee/)
- [Wikidata: John Z. Lee](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6265275)

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