Following a law degree in UCD Philip was awarded a scholarship to study a masters in European Law in the College of Europe, Bruges followed by a scholarship to study American law in Leiden University. In 1986 Philip obtained a BL from the Bar Council.

After college Philip worked alongside fellow Conlethian Tim Bouchier Hayes in Max Abrahamson’s practice. This was a world-leading practice in international arbitration and construction. In 1982 Philip became the senior legal adviser to Irish Shell and the various companies under Shell International in Ireland. In 1984 Philip was appointed real estate manger of Irish Shell with responsibility to acquire and develop the retail network. In 1986 Philip joined Shell International Trading Company (SITCO) in London. In SITCO Philip was responsible for the leasing and risk management of numerous oil refineries processing crude oil shipped to them, including refineries in Germany, Trinidad, Texas, Ireland and other parts of the world. He also negotiated refinery processing deals with national governments in Europe and South America.

In 1988 Philip returned to law and joined Bristows, a specialist IP law firm in London with a view to opening their Brussels office. However in 1989 Philip was approached by Fyffes plc to join them as legal counsel and address the difficulties arising out of the establishment of a supply chain for bananas from Honduras and other Central and South American countries to Europe. US companies had totally controlled the export of bananas and other fruits from Central America for over a century and numerous illegal and violent attempts were made to discourage the entry of Fyffes to the market. Following many legal and diplomatic battles, solutions were found. Philip then remained to represent Fyffes in negotiating and developing rules with the European Commission to ensure that those economies dependent on banana exports were protected under new European Single Market Rules to be introduced in January 1993.

In March 1993 Philip set up a legal practice, Philip Lee LLP in Dublin. One of the first large cases was to represent the then 77 African Caribbean Pacific countries in a dispute over the EU import rules before the then GATT. There was no resolution to that dispute and the dispute was then brought before a panel and eventually the Appellate Body of the newly formed WTO. Philip was the first ever private lawyer to represent clients before the WTO in a case that remains the largest ever before the WTO. In 1993 Philip wrote the first book on the new EU rules on Public Procurement which was published by Butterworths.

Philip Lee LLP has grown from 1employee to over 200 with offices in Dublin, London and the US. The firm has represented the public sector in most of Ireland’s major infrastructure projects such as the Dublin Port Tunnel, the Dublin Waste to Energy Project, the East West interconnector, the new Port of Cork Ringaskiddy project, Greystones Harbour and Marina and the construction of several state ships such as those for the Marine Institute and Irish Lights. It was ranked No.1 globally in Carbon Finance in 2023 and 2024. The only Irish firm to have been ranked number one in the world in any sector. Philip has represented clients as advocate before the European Court of Justice, the WTO, the High Court in Ireland, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission and in numerous arbitrations. Philip has a life-long love of sport and has represented Ireland in European and World championships in both fencing and windsurfing. Philip has won titles at school university and senior in both foil and epee. In 2019 Philip was European Veteran Foil Champion and was ranked number one in Europe in both 2019 and 2020.