The founder of the firm, Robert Lee, has been involved with Japan and China for over thirty years. He studied Chinese and Japanese languages at the University of Toronto and spent several years in Japan in the early 1970's working, first for the Ontario government as a host at Expo' 70 in Osaka, and later on his own. He set up a small agency in Osaka to specialize in supplying foreigners to Japanese advertisers and photographers when they needed non-Japanese persons to promote foreign goods and services in the Japanese market. In this way, he was able to gain fluency in Japanese in a short time and earn sufficient money to finance his return to his studies at the East Asia Department of The University of Toronto in September 1971.

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After returning to Canada, and before becoming a lawyer, he worked in Toronto as interpreter and office manager at a Toyota dealership that was established as a subsidiary of Yokohama Toyopet (1973-74). At the same time he completed an M. A. in Japanese studies prior to entering law school in Sep 1974.

 

Robert Lee began practicing as a lawyer in Toronto, Canada in 1979. In 1981 he joined the international firm of Baker & Mckenzie and came to Hong Kong with that firm in 1984. After becoming partner in 1986, he resigned to establish Robert Lee & Fong in 1988. He has concentrated on the general practice of corporate and commercial law in Canada,

Hong Kong, Japan, and China, and has significant transactional experience in London, Thailand, Vietnam and the United States. His clientele comprises of individuals and corporations from diverse nationalities including Japan, France, England, Hong Kong, and China.

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Originally trained as a Canadian lawyer, Mr. Lee is also qualified in England (1983), California (1984), Hong Kong (1984), and Australia (1986). He was based in Hong Kong from 1984-95, in Tokyo from 1996-2001, and Shanghai from 2001-04. Recently, Mr. Lee became co-founder and Senior Advisor to a new Singapore Law Corporation called KGP Legal LLC. This firm commenced practice in Singapore from January 2018 and Mr. Lee has established residence in Singapore where he spends time developing the regional practice in South-East Asia. He also maintains a foreign law office in Tokyo and a residence there as well.

 

He lives with his wife Kazuyo whom he met in Osaka in 1970. They have been married for more than forty years and have three children and five grandchildren. Mr. Lee is also a notary public in Hong Kong and Ontario, a civil celebrant for marriage in Hong Kong.