Lee & Lee, Attorneys

Powell, Lee & Lee, Attorneys was formed in 1949 by former State Senator J.K. Powell, author of North Carolina's "Powell Bill" which provides money to municipalities, large and small, to build and maintain city streets, his daughter, Catherine P. Lee and his son-in-law, Junius (J.B.) B. Lee, Jr. Catherine Lee maintained a part-time practice while raising 4 children, and ultimately found great satisfaction in public service, including as a member of the Whiteville City School Board, the Columbus County Hospital Board, and numerous other Church and civic endeavors. J.B. Lee, Jr and J.K. Powell pursued a general practice of law, focusing on litigation, estate planning, real estate, banking and corporate law for nearly 25 years.

In 1972 J. K. Powell retired. J.B. Lee, Jr continued the practice as Lee & Lee, Attorneys, and was joined by his son Junius B. Lee, III in 1979. Junius B. Lee, III , a 1976 Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and in 1979, of its law school, pursued many of the same areas of practice as did his father and grandfather, although at the present time he focuses on litigation, civil, criminal, and domestic, estate planning and corporate law. Junius Lee is a former instructor in banking law at Southeastern Commuity College.

In 1989, after a long battle with heart disease , J.B. Lee, Jr. sucumbed while on a fishing trip to Florida. Catherine Lee also died in 1995. Since that time, Junius Lee has manitained the practice, assisted by several former partners. He sold the former office building of the firm at 812 Pinckney Street, Whiteville, N.C. in 2007, about 3 weeks before the credit crunch enveloped the United States, and now occupies an office suite in Memory Plaza. His current business address is 100 Washington Street, Whiteville, N.C.

Lee maintains that there are several principles about which his practice is built. First, the client is the only focus of this office. A client may not always want to hear what I tell them, but I will always tell them the truth, whatever it is. Second, I am not doing any client a favor by taking his or her case. It is quite the opposite, without my clients I would have nothing to do. Third, I can only keep clients by doing my very best for them. Lawyers are like streetcars, one comes by about every 5 minutes. If I don't put my clients first, even when I am very busy, they can and should find someone else to do their work. Finally, after 32 years in the practice, I should be able to understand my client's problems, clearly explain how they should be resolved, if this is possible, and have the guts to do what it takes to resolve them within the law.

Initial consultations with Lee, except for certain contingent cases, like automobile accdents are $100, and generally last between 30 and 45 minutes, depending on the issues involved. In potentially contingent cases, there is no consultation fee.