Before joining the Cato Institute, Lester worked for the trade law practice of a Washington, DC, law firm and as a legal affairs officer at the Appellate Body Secretariat of the World Trade Organization. In 2001, he founded the international trade law website WorldTradeLaw.net. He has written a number of law journal articles, which have appeared in such publications as the Stanford Journal of International Law, the George Washington International Law Review and the Journal of World Trade. In addition, Lester has taught courses on international trade law at American University’s Washington College of Law and the University of Michigan Law School.
He has a JD from Harvard Law School.