Lee, a clinical negligence specialist and in-house lawyer at Action Against Medical Accidents, saw off competition from five other candidates to secure the position after a vote by Law Society council members.
The deputy vice president position, which Lee will take up this summer, is the first in a three-year cycle that will see her progress to vice president and then finally president of the Law Society.
To claim the role Lee defeated Crown Prosecution Service lawyer Tim O’Sullivan; legal aid lawyer Lucy Scott-Moncrieff; former Law Society property section chair Helen Davies; sole practitioner Derek French; and City of Westminster representative Peter Adams.
Outgoing Law Society president Andrew Holroyd is standing down in July and will be replaced by current vice president Paul Marsh. Former Beachcroft managing partner Bob Heslett will step up to fill Marsh’s position.
The society previously avoided a potentially embarrassing episode when Marsh’s council seat came up for election. Had he lost the seat he would have been unable to take on the presidency, with the body then forced to hold an ad hoc election process for the role of deputy vice president.