Leading and lagging currents are not so much "currents" as they are "situations" or "conditions" in an electrical circuit. Reactive characteristics, if there are any, will not
… let voltage and current be in phase in a circuit. (Unless they are equal, and this will be true at only one frequency.) In some circuits, current leads voltage (or voltage lags current), and in other circuits, current lags voltage (voltage leads current), depending on the circuit and also on the frequency of the applied signal. In a capacitor, current leads voltage, and in an inductor, current lags voltage. This carries over to circuits that exhibit primarily capacitive or inductive characteristics. Additionally, reactance varies with frequency. As a given circuit with inductance and capacitance is evaluated, at some frequencies, it will appear capacitive, and current will lead voltage. At other frequencies, the circuit will appear inductive, and current will lag voltage. Only at a frequency where the reactances are equal will the current and voltage be in phase. The ideas here are best reviewed after achieving an understanding of the nature of inductance and capacitance, the associated reactances, and the way frequency affects these characteristics. (MORE) 