Kathryn (Lee) Boyd, Partner
☎ CONTACT
E: lboyd@hechtpartners.com
T: (646) 502-9515
PRACTICE AREAS
Kathryn “Lee” Boyd is a founding partner of Hecht Partners and co-chair of the firm’s class action team. She has nearly three decades of experience handling complex litigation, international arbitration, and class actions in “impact” matters involving international human rights, the rule of law, and foreign affairs, as well as consumer and investor rights. She has tried more than 30 cases and argued more than 10 appeals in federal and state court.
In 2026, Lee and her team were awarded Public Justice’s 2026 Trial Lawyer of the Year Award in connection with their $20.75 million bellwether verdict in Kashef v. BNP Paribas SA — the first jury verdict in the United States holding a major international bank civilly liable for materially supporting genocide and mass human rights abuses. Lee originated the case, served as co-lead class counsel, and examined all three bellwether plaintiffs at trial. The judgment is currently on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Kashef was filed in 2016 and litigated for nearly a decade on behalf of Sudanese refugees harmed by the al-Bashir regime’s campaign of atrocities against Black African communities in Darfur. Lee developed the class side of the case from the outset — defeating motions to dismiss, overcoming complex jurisdictional, foreign law, and discovery challenges, and securing certification of a class of more than 23,000 Sudanese survivors residing in the United States. The bellwether verdict establishes that a bank’s knowing financial support of a regime committing mass atrocities can give rise to civil liability and clears a path for the certified class to pursue its claims.
Lee’s earlier work reflects the same focus. She has represented victims of Argentina’s “dirty war,” indigenous peoples suing bad actor sovereigns and multinational conspirators, and families of terrorist hijacking victims. She has also spent decades seeking the restitution of cultural and private property seized during the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust.
Lee is an authority on international human rights, having taught, published, and practiced in the field. She brings an academic approach paired with practical litigation skills to her work, offering clients top shelf representation when the stakes are highest.
Lee also is a member of Victoria Associates, an elite international arbitration practice group comprised of international arbitration specialists from around the globe, which enhances her practice and ability to serve clients with transnational disputes, in commercial and investment arbitrations.
Prior to joining Hecht Partners, Lee was a tenured faculty member at Pepperdine Law School, where she taught international and human rights litigation as well as complex litigation. She also worked as a prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, a clerk for the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, and was a litigator at several prominent law firms.
In 2021, Crain’s New York Business recognized Lee among its list of “Notable Women in Law.”
Notable Representations
Successfully represented a global entertainment and sports company against a FTSE 100 online gaming company in arbitration.
Successfully represented U.S. terrorism victims in international litigation, arbitration, and enforcement of judgment against Iran.
Successfully represented investors worldwide in international arbitrations, including current representation of investors in Bilateral Investment Treaty arbitrations.
Successfully represented the Armenian Orthodox Church in seeking return of art stolen during the Armenian Genocide.
Successfully litigated multiple class actions for employment law violations.
Successfully represented family in Polish property restitution for immovable property stolen by Nazis and confiscated by communist regime.
Memberships & Affiliations
Member, Victoria Associates, International Disputes
New York State Bar Association, International Law Section
California State Bar Association, Litigation Section
International Law Association, American Branch (former Executive Board member), Human Rights Committee
California Lawyers Association, International Law Section
Board member, Transparency International Honduras Chapter, Association for a More Just Society
California International Arbitration Council (CIAC)
Institute for Transnational Arbitrators
Thought Leadership
Author, International Arbitration and the Future of Holocaust Restitution in the Aftermath of Republic of Hungary v. Simon and Federal Republic of Germany v. Philipp, Kluwer Arbitration Blog, 2021
Author, High Court Nazi Art Rulings Impede Restorative Justice, Law360, 2021
Co-author with Michael J. Bazyler, Kristen L. Nelson, and Rajika L. Shah, Searching for Justice After the Holocaust: Fulfilling the Terezin Declaration and Immovable Property Restitution, Oxford University Press, 2019
Co-author, Report From Jerusalem: The Continuing Struggle For Holocaust Justice, Warsaw Point, June 22, 2016
Author, Unholy Profits: Holocaust Restitution and the Vatican Bank, Chap. 12 in Holocaust Restitution; Perspectives on the Litigation and Its Legacy, Eds. M. Bazyler, R. Alford, 2006
Author, Universal Jurisdiction and Structural Reasonableness, Texas International Law Journal, Vol. 40, 2004
Author, Collective Rights Adjudication in U.S. Courts: Enforcing Human Rights at the Corporate Level, Brigham Young University Law School, Vol. No. 4, 1999
Author, The Inconvenience of Victims: Abolishing the Doctrine of Forum Non Conveniens in U.S. Human rights Litigation, Virginia Journal of International Law Vol. 39, 1998
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BAR ADMISSIONS
State of New York
State of California
U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit
U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York
U.S. District Court, Central District of California
U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
U.S. District Court, Southern District of California
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas
EDUCATION
J.D., Harvard Law School
B.A., University of Virginia
LANGUAGES
Proficient in Spanish
Conversational in French