Mark Lane has been a member of the bar for more than half a century. He successfully represented the American Indian Movement in the historic Wounded Knee trial. He defeated E. Howard Hunt and the CIA in a trial in the United States District Court in Florida and William F. Buckley in a trial in the United States District Court in Washington DC. He represented numerous clients in the civil rights movement in the South and in the North.
He was counsel for a plaintiff in a leading case in the United States District Court, Washington, DC establishing the rights of women to bring actions for sexual harassment. Lane was also a member of the New York State Legislature and was the only public official arrested as a Freedom Rider in Mississippi.