About Lee
Lee is Burr & Forman’s Managing Partner. He served as Alabama Counsel during the site selection and negotiation processes for Mercedes-Benz U.S. International, Inc., The Boeing Company, Mi-Tech Steel, Inc. and IPSCO Steel when these companies chose to locate their facilities in the State of Alabama. He assisted Honda Manufacturing of Alabama with the implementation of its incentives package with the State of Alabama for the development of its plant in Lincoln, Alabama. Lee also negotiated the incentives packages with the State for the recent Mercedes-Benz and Honda plant expansions in Alabama. Additionally, he assisted with negotiations on behalf of both DaimlerChrysler AG and Michigan Automotive Compressor Inc. (an affiliate of Toyoda Industries) during their site selection and incentives negotiation processes with the State of Georgia. Lee also assisted Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama, LLC with the implementation of its incentive package with the State of Alabama for the development of its plant in Montgomery, Alabama. Lee oversaw the site selection process for a new transmission manufacturing facility being developed by Honda Motor Company in Tallapoosa, Georgia. In 2006, Lee and his partner, Warren Matthews, assisted with the site selection process for KIA Motors Corporation for a new automobile manufacturing facility to be located in West Point, Georgia. Most recently, Lee and Warren Matthews represented both ThyssenKrupp AG and National Steel Car, Ltd in their site selection and negotiation processes to locate manufacturing facilities in Mobile and Muscle Shoals, Alabama. To date, Lee has worked on new economic development projects and expansions representing over $12 billion of capital investment and the creation of thousands of new jobs.
Lee is listed in The Best Lawyers in America in the General Corporate Law and Economic Development categories. He is also listed in Chambers USA America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, including being named in 2009 and 2010 as a “Leader in their Field”, and Alabama Super Lawyers. Lee and colleagues Louis Anders and Warren Matthews co-authored Alabama Limited Liability Company Forms and Practice Manual. Lee is a Fellow of the Alabama Law Foundation, as well as a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, both of which recognize significant contributions to the legal profession and the community. In 1994, he served as Secretary/Treasurer of the Birmingham Bar Association and as President in 2005. After law school, Lee served as law clerk to the Honorable Richard L. Jones, Associate Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. He is licensed to practice in both Alabama and Tennessee.
Lee Cross-Examined
Lee currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Alabama Automotive Manufacturers Association, the Alabama Wildlife Federation, the Metropolitan Development Board and the Comprehensive Cancer Care Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Lee is the former Board of Directors’ President of Girls Incorporated of Central Alabama and previously served as a member of its National Board of Directors.
What is your favorite thing about the law?
Everyday is a new challenge.
What was your first job?
Working as a gopher in my family’s saw and machinery business, mostly unloading trucks of merchandise and working in the warehouse.
What are your hobbies?
Woodworking, fly-fishing and quail hunting.
What advice would you give to a young student in law school?
Study hard so that you have choices of employment and can hopefully be matched with a firm that will carry you through your professional career.
How do you define a “good day?”
When I either helped a client solve a problem to their satisfaction and/or helped a young lawyer work his or her way through a difficult issue so that their client was satisfied and they had a meaningful learning experience in the law.