Thomas Patrick Lane

Thomas Patrick Lane is a litigation partner in the firm’s New York office who focuses his practice on complex business and commercial litigation, particularly in the new media and entertainment fields. One of Mr. Lane’s clients, Yahoo! Inc., has relied on his legal skills to successfully defend it in several licensing and copyright disputes. In one such case, Mr. Lane successfully defended Launch Media Inc., a Yahoo! subsidiary, in a jury trial for a case in which major record labels claimed more than $2 billion in damages for copyright infringement. The jury returned a verdict in Yahoo!’s favor in less than an hour—a verdict which was upheld by the Second Circuit. Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Lane served as a senior trial attorney in the Kings County District Attorney’s Office, where for close to five years he investigated and prosecuted multiple homicide cases and a variety of violent felonies. Prior to joining Winston & Strawn, Mr. Lane served as deputy national chair for a large litigation firm, supervising and managing more than 100 attorneys. Mr. Lane received an A.B. in English from Hamilton College in 1988. He received a J.D., cum laude, from Tulane Law School in 1991. He also studied at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, England, and at the Inns of Court, London, England Mr. Lane serves on the board of the National LGBT Bar Association, directs all external legal matters for the Tyler Clementi Foundation, acts as an arbitrator for New York Civil Court, and devotes considerable time to numerous pro bono matters and nonprofit endeavors. He currently serves on Winston & Strawn’s diversity committee as well as the firm's pro bono committee, and has been honored for his pro bono efforts by The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence (2009) and New Yorkers Against Gun Violence (2006). Mr. Lane also serves as co-chair of Winston & Strawn’s New York hiring committee, and chair of the firm’s New York summer program.