The Hon. Barbara R. Johnson-Lee is a judge for the Buffalo City Court in Erie County in the Eighth Judicial District of New York. She was elected to the bench in 2015.
She is a registered Democrat.
Judge Johnson-Lee graduated with her B.A. in philosophy from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1981. She went on to earn her J.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo School of Law in 1986.
Prior to her election to the bench, Johnson-Lee had served as a staff attorney in the Criminal Defense Unit of the Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo, Inc. since 2007.
Before joining the Legal Aid Bureau, she worked as an attorney in private practice from 1991 to 2007.
In addition to her other positions, Johnson-Lee supplemented her work by serving as a hearing officer in the Small/Commercial Claims Division of the Buffalo City Court from 2000 to 2010.
Her memberships have included the New York State Bar Association, the Volunteer Lawyers Project, the New York State Defenders Association, the Erie County Bar Association, the Minority Bar Association of Western New York, and the Women Lawyers of Western New York.
Judge Johnson-Lee was born in Jamaica and immigrated to the United States when she was a child.