David Lane

David Lane grew up in Colorado and attended the University of Colorado, Boulder where he obtained a BA in political science in 1977. He then went on to law school at the University of California, Berkeley. Upon graduation, in1980, he became a public defender in New York City, working in the Brooklyn office of the Legal Aid Society where he became a supervising attorney. In 1987 he moved back to Colorado and established his own practice in Denver. From 1987 through the present Lane has engaged in a practice exclusively devoted to civil rights and criminal defense, with an emphasis on death penalty defense. He practices both at the trial and appellate levels and has argued a First Amendment case before the United States Supreme Court. He has argued in numerous state supreme courts and several United States Courts of Appeal. His criminal practice has involved all types of cases from complex white- collar work in federal court to basic state court felonies. The practice has always emphasized death penalty trial work in both state and federal courts. The civil rights component of the practice includes mostly Section 1983 cases involving police brutality and jail/prison conditions as well as First Amendment cases, Title VII race, age, sex, religious discrimination, and Bivens litigation. Mr. Lane has also represented five Guantanamo Bay detainees. Lane has taken over 250 cases through jury trials ranging from misdemeanor cases through months-long death penalty trials, as well as many civil rights cases. Since 1989 Lane has taught Professional Responsibility, Trial Advocacy and Death Penalty Jurisprudence at the University of Colorado School of Law, and at the University o  Denver School of Law where he taught both Death Penalty Jurisprudence and First Amendment Jurisprudence. He is a frequent lecturer on issues involving either the death penalty or civil rights at many colleges and universities and has been a featured speaker at numerous bar conferences. He has lectured throughout the country in over 50 cities primarily on the topic of jury selection and has been recognized and honored by various groups for his advocacy.