Steve Lane is the managing partner at Lane & Lane, working alongside his father and brother under the family business motto of “doing the right thing” to help protect the rights of those who can’t fight for themselves. 2019 marks Steve’s 41st anniversary practicing law, pouring his efforts into catastrophic personal injury cases.
Over the course of his professional career, Steve has served on numerous Illinois Bar Association committees and boards, and currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors on the International Society of Primerus Law Firms, an organization made up of more than 3,000 attorneys from nearly 50 countries around the world. Lane & Lane, LLC is the only Plaintiffs’ personal injury law firm in Illinois to be included in membership in this prestigious organization.
He has also had the privilege of authoring state legislation, and of teaching other lawyers over the years, instructing them in areas of medical matters and litigation, and trial and strategy. His hope is that more people are being helped every day because he has been able to help other lawyers become better advocates for their clients. Steve was recognized by Martindale-Hubbell as a “Preeminent Attorney” for 2013. Most recently, he was named a 2015 “Illinois Super Lawyer” and has consistently earned this award year over year.
Above and beyond all of his accomplishments during his legal career, the one thing that he is most proud of is his family. Steve is married, and the father of three adult children. He and his wife Sally, our office manager, are proud grandparents, too! Their oldest daughter, Jessica, is married to Danny Raskin and is the mother of Steve’s three grandchildren. Steve’s son-in-law, Danny Raskin, shares the Lanes’ close-knit family interest, and is one of the owners and managers of an icon of Chicago: Manny’s Delicatessen. Steve and Sally’s son, Danny, is a manager at Big Bowl, a restaurant developed by Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises (a prominent restaurant development company), and their youngest daughter, Kim, works as a first grade school teacher.
In his “spare time,” Steve is a man of hidden talents of all kinds. Music is one of his great passions—he plays guitar and sings in a local rock band named “Dunhill,” as well as for his temple’s guitar band at services. Steve has been scuba diving all over the world for nearly 40 years; loves animals to the point that Sally often refers to Steve as “Dr. Doolittle”; enjoys the Chicago Bears, Bulls, and White Sox; and even spent his younger days playing on multiple football and softball leagues. These days, his athletic participation is limited to mostly fishing and golfing.
Steve is a hands-on kind of guy as well, building and fixing everything possible around his home and office. Whether he’s troubleshooting computer equipment at Lane & Lane, or maintaining his home-built aquarium, Steve knows just enough to get himself into trouble at times—and just enough to get himself out as well!
Throughout all of his life experiences, both the joys and the struggles, Steve has applied everything he’s learned toward gaining insight and perspective into the lives of the people he’s fighting for.
To sum up his perspective on life, Steve feels that his family has always taught him to do the right things, to fight against and through adversity, and to be giving and tolerant of others. And, he has learned to be happy with what he has, because ultimately, as his clients have demonstrated, happiness is not determined by the “things” we have in life, but rather by our attitude and perspective toward each day.
