Victoria Lee Shares Her Path into Tax Law and Perspective on Representation

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This historical profile discusses Victoria Lee’s interest in tax law and career development. Confirm current professional credentials, role and any publication status directly before relying on them. Related resources: Victoria Lee, Esq..

Born and raised in California, Lee moved to Florida to attend university, but she was only able to complete the first year because she could no longer afford the tuition. She went to a local college to study criminal justice while working to support her studies. She always had a dream of being a lawyer, but she believed it was unachievable due to the lack of representation she experienced growing up.

“As the first person to finish college in my immediate family and the first attorney in my entire family, I did not see many examples of people like me taking on this profession when I was growing up, so it initially felt out of reach,” she says. “I believed only people from a wealthy background, whose parents donated to Ivy League schools, were the ones who could go to law school. A week before graduation, one of my professors asked what I was planning to do, and I told her about my dream of becoming a lawyer. She said that it was still possible, and she helped me prepare for the LSAT.”

Even though she was behind most of her peers in terms of preparation, Lee passed the test and started applying to various law schools, eventually receiving a full-ride scholarship to one. However, due to some predatory practices at the now-defunct law school, she lost her scholarship and ended up having to pay full price. Despite this, she refused to be discouraged from her dream.

An example of Lee’s many legal successes includes defending her client against the government’s initial assertion of an additional tax of $13 million and reducing this by more than $7 million. She was also able to obtain a settlement at the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, reducing a client’s sales tax measure by over $2 million. This demonstrates how Lee is thriving in the tax law profession and getting exceptional results for her clients, despite being one of the few women of color working within this white, male-dominated industry.

“I fell in love with tax because it’s very intriguing and I love solving puzzles. I am also passionate about helping people, and I want to help them understand a complex subject matter and feel empowered by the knowledge,” Lee says. “A person can’t truly scale their business unless they know the tax exposure associated with their actions. What I’ve found in my practice is that ignorance is very expensive. There’s a saying that people don’t know what they don’t know, and, sadly, when it comes to tax, people only find out about it when they have a huge tax bill staring them in the face.”

“I have a knack for simplifying things and helping people understand the complexities of tax,” she says. “The tax code looks like an entirely foreign language for most entrepreneurs and non-lawyers. I believe I can make the subject matter more relatable and accessible. Knowing about tax isn’t something just for the wealthy, and it’s not a political bargaining chip. Tax affects everyone, and it is something foundational that everyone should know.”

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