Lee finds the right balance

Listen to this article

After six years as a lawyer, Matt Lee still is trying to strike that elusive work-life balance of juggling bankruptcy and business cases while raising two boys and giving back to the community.

“The hours are difficult, but I don’t complain about them too much because I knew what I was getting into,” Lee said. “People struggle all their lives doing the family-work balance, and I’m no different.”

He is a different kind of attorney, at least according to his bosses, who consider him a go-to bankruptcy lawyer who has distinguished himself as first-chair in several multimillion-dollar cases.

Lee also has stood out in commercial disputes, with multiple appearances in U.S. District Court and the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.

“I’m kind of a jack of all trades,” he said. “They plug me in where they need me.”

It’s an identity Lee has embraced as he has worked to find his way in the firm. But his work extends beyond Foley & Lardner to a position as co-chairman of the firm’s United Way of Dane County campaign.

But the challenge is finding the balance and returning home to his sons, ages 2 and 4. Most days, he said, he does pretty well.

“I’m home for dinner about 98 percent of the time,” Lee said.

.

.

.