ABOUT OUR TEAM

THEO-PATRA, QUEEN OF THE VINEYARDS

Ms. Theodora Lee, a senior partner and trial lawyer at Littler, founded Theopolis Vineyards in 2003. In the wine world, Ms. Lee is known as Theo-patra, Queen of the Vineyards. Her passion for wine began upon her arrival to San Francisco from Texas in 1987, primarily due to the influence of her law firm mentors, many of whom owned vineyards. This led Ms. Lee to take several viticulture classes at UC Davis, before deciding to develop her own vineyard. In 2001, Ms. Lee purchased sheep land in the Yorkville Highlands of Anderson Valley, and began developing her vineyard. This process was quite complex from clearing land, doing soil tests, obtaining permits to remove some trees, drilling an agricultural well, and terracing the property. Finally, in 2003, Ms. Lee planted her 5 acre vineyard. Ms. Lee adopted her Greek name from pledging Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, and established Theopolis Vineyards.

Ms. Lee and Theopolis Vineyards have been featured in various publications, including Forbes Magazine, Bloomberg, Sunset Magazine, Wine Enthusiast Magazine, Sonoma Magazine, HuffPost.com, The Press Democrat, Essence Magazine, to name a few. Ms. Lee has made guest appearances on various TV and Radio Shows, including Check, Please! Bay Area, CBS News, Los Angeles Radio Station 94.7 The Wave, The Ryan Scott Show and On-the-Go with John Hamilton, to name a few. Recently, Ms. Lee was recognized as a 2020 Wine Industry Leader.

In addition to practicing law and making wine, Ms. Lee is a settlement commissioner, Early Neutral Evaluator, AAA certified arbitrator and mediator. Also, she is a contributing writer to numerous employment law publications and regularly appears on TV and Radio, including NPR and PBS, speaking on various employment topics. Ms. Lee is the Co-Board Chairperson of the Dallas Post Tribune Newspaper, one of the oldest Black Newspapers in North Texas. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the YMCA of San Francisco. She is the Past President of Bay Area Black United Fund and the Alameda County Community Food Bank, and Past Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Bay Area Legal Aid and the United Negro College Fund San Francisco Advisory Board. Ms. Lee is a graduate of Spelman College and the University Of Texas School Of Law. Prior to entering the practice of law, Ms. Lee worked as a Senate intern in Washington, D.C., for Senator Sam Nunn.