Spirit of the Law

Prof. Alex Lee discovers professional purpose through faith  By Kelsey Schreiberg Prof. Alex Lee wants to be remembered for teaching students more than law. He may lecture on Securities Regulation, but he also challenges USC Gould students to ask deeper questions: What is truth? How do I find significance? What is goodness?

Prof. Lee talks to students about finding the "deeper purpose" in their careers.

At a recent lunchtime event, Lee spoke to law students about how he answers these questions in his own life. Lee is an assistant professor of law and joined USC Gould last year. The presentation capped off “Spirit of the Law”, a program designed to help students find meaning in their legal careers. The monthly event is co-sponsored by the USC Office of Religious Life and the USC Levan Institute for Humanities. To some extent, it seems Lee was destined to pursue academia. He grew up in Korea in a household that placed a high value on academic excellence, and was no stranger to hard work: he holds a B.A. in Mathematics from Harvard College, an M.A. in Mathematics from Cambridge University, a J.D. from Yale Law School, and a Ph.D. in Economics from Yale Graduate School. Despite these impressive achievements, Lee admits he lacked direction.In an effort to help law students find focus, he encouraged them not to delay asking the important questions in life by seeking diversions. “All of these things I was seeking--math, music, etc--were false substitutes,” Lee said. Before coming to USC Gould, Lee clerked for Honorable Thomas B. Griffith had worked as senior council and a financial economist for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In 2006, after much soul searching, Lee found a deeper purpose through someone unexpected: Jesus Christ. “It was no longer about what am I capable of, but what is God capable of accomplishing through my life,” he said. “We all have different modes of worship, [and I] worship through studying, by conveying knowledge to people.” Lee believes he was called to teach law, and finds fulfillment in this role. “It has less to do with adding value to legal scholarship, than about making sure legal scholarship can add value to society,” he said. Ultimately, Lee encouraged students to accept that they don’t have all the answers to life’s questions, and to consider looking inward for guidance. “Ask yourself: what is the single most important question I can ask in my life, and what am I doing with my life to confront that question head on?”