We perform the first study for the heavy-heavy-light quark (QQq) potential in SU(3) quenched lattice QCD with the Coulomb gauge. The calculations are done with the standard gauge and O(a)-improved Wilson fermion action on the 16(4) lattice at beta = 6.0. We calculate the energy of QQq systems as the function of the distance R between the two heavy quarks, and find that the QQq potential is well described with a Coulomb plus linear potential form up to the intermediate distance R <= 0.8 fm. Compared to the static three-quark case, the effective string tension between the heavy quarks is significantly reduced by the finite-mass valence quark effect. This reduction is considered to be a general property for baryons. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.