Attorney Spotlight: J. Lee McNeely

J. Lee McNeely (Lee) is the founding partner of McNeelyLaw LLP. Lee completed his undergraduate studies at Wabash College and then received his juris doctor degree from Indiana University’s Maurer School of Law in 1965 and was admitted to the Indiana Bar that same year. He co-founded his own firm, McNeely Stephenson in 1976, and he practiced with that firm until establishing McNeeyLaw LLP in 2020.

Lee, like the firm he founded, is a one-stop shop for legal knowledge. While his main focus has been on insurance defense and business litigation, he practices in diverse corners of the law that include elder law and death care, government and municipal law, and real estate. Lee’s skills as a mediator and negotiator also play a significant role in his success as an attorney, allowing him to seek and obtain the most beneficial outcomes for his clients, often prior to the expense of a jury trial.

Lee practices in the state courts of Indiana as well as the US District Courts for Northern and Southern Indiana, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. In addition to trying cases before these courts, Lee has had his expertise recognized by them as an expert witness and by being selected to serve as a special master in difficult, complex matters by both the US District Court and the Indiana Supreme Court.
Lee has achieved some of the highest honors in his profession. He has served as the president of the Indiana State Bar Association from 1998-1999, he was named Wabash College’s Man of the Year in 1995, has been a fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers since 2004, and he has been one of Indiana’s Super Lawyers since 1999. Lee has served his profession in various capacities with the Indiana State Bar Association, the Indiana Bar Foundation, the Shelby County Bar Association, as a member of the Indiana Supreme Court Commission for Continuing Legal Education, and by serving on the Federal Court Local Rules Advisory Committee, the Federal Magistrate Merit Selection Committee, and the Federal Merit Selection Advisory Committee. While this list seems expansive, it is only a brief review of Lee’s involvement in the legal community over the years.

In addition to the many ways that Lee has served his profession, he has also served the community at large as a guest lecturer on the college level, trustee of his alma mater Wabash College, and by supporting many local charities personally and through his firms. Lee has been selected to receive the Sagamore of the Wabash, one of the highest civic awards conveyed by the governor of Indiana, nine times in his life, most recently in 2021. The Indiana Bar Foundation bestowed upon Lee the Legendary Lawyer Award for 2018 in recognition of his outstanding service to the profession and the community.

Lee embodies, and ensures his firm embodies, the highest principles of the legal profession, exemplary public service to the community, and a mastery of legal knowledge, combined with sharp attention to detail. These traits make Lee one of the most accomplished attorneys in Indiana.