Lee focuses his practice on estate planning and trusts and estates administration, which often involves taxation and business planning, charitable planning and organizations, and related transactions. He is a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), which recognizes individual attorneys for distinguished contributions to the practice of estate planning, probate, and trust law. He served a five-year term as the Virginia State Chair for ACTEC and currently serves as the Chair of the Professional Responsibility Committee.

Lee served for six years (2008-2013) as an adjunct professor at the Washington and Lee School of Law where he taught Wealth Transfer Planning. He has presented numerous continuing legal education programs on various subjects, including ethics, estate and trust planning, and recent developments in trusts and estates law.

Lee is a member of the Virginia Bar Association, having served on the Board of Governors, and is an active member of the Legislative Committee of the Wills, Trusts and Estates Section.  He serves as a director of the Virginia Law Foundation and is a fellow of the American Bar Foundation, the Virginia Law Foundation, and the Roanoke Bar Foundation. He is past chair of the Trust and Estates and the Taxation Sections of the Virginia State Bar.  He has served as a member of the Boyd-Graves Conference and as a member of the Conner-Zaritsky Advanced Estate Planning and Administration Seminar since 1993.  Lee is a current Trustee of the Roanoke Bar Foundation and a past President of the Roanoke Bar Association.

Lee was recognized as a member of the Virginia Hall of Fame by Virginia Lawyers Weekly in 2019.  He holds a Martindale Hubbell AV Preeminent Peer Review rating and is recognized annually by Best Lawyers in America, including being named “Roanoke Lawyer of the Year” in 2013, for Trusts and Estates. He is regularly recognized among the Virginia Super Lawyers and is one of Virginia Business magazine’s “Legal Elite” in the Trust and Estates category.

Lee is an active community volunteer and serves on the boards of the Rescue Mission Foundation, the Charitable Advisors of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Roanoke Kiwanis Foundation, the Kiwanis Club of Roanoke, the Roanoke Kiwanis Foundation, Garth Newel Music Center Foundation, the Commonwealth Alliance for Rural Colleges, and Mill Mountain Theatre. He is a member of the Roanoke Valley Alleghany Regional Commission (Chair 1995-99), the Roanoke Valley Transportation Planning Organization (Chair 1995-99), and the Roanoke Valley Greenway Commission.  He is a Governor Emeritus of the Community Foundation Serving Western Virginia, having served as a Governor from 1994-2003.

Speaking Engagements

  • ACTEC/ALI CLE Webinar | Joint Representations in Complex Estate Plans: Avoiding the Ethical Traps
    May 11, 2022
  • The Conner-Zaritsky 43rd Annual Advanced Estate Planning and Administration Seminar 2022 | Ethics Potpourri—The Essence of Professional Responsibility
    April 29, 2022
  • 72nd Annual Virginia Conference on Federal Taxation 2021 | Ethical Considerations in Representing Business Owners and Their Families Regarding Their Estate Plans and Related Matters
    June 3, 2021
  • The Conner-Zaritsky 41st Annual Advanced Estate Planning and Administration Seminar | Ethical and Practical Considerations in Winding Down (or Winding Up) a Trust and Estates Practice
    September 24, 2020
  • Virginia CLE / Virginia Law Foundation - 39th Annual Advanced Estate Planning & Administration Seminar | Ethical Issues in Forming and Representing Business Entities
    April 28, 2018
  • 52nd Annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning | Ethical Issues in Advising Clients on Planning for, Creating, Operating, Transferring Control and Ownership of, and the Dissolution of Closely-Held Businesses
    January 25, 2018

Recognition