Lane v. Bar Commission of the Nebraska State Bar Association

The Bar Commission of the Nebraska State Bar Association (defendant) denied Gary Lane (plaintiff) readmission due to lack of candor on his bar application and hostile, threatening, and disruptive conduct. His first hostile incident involved statements Lane made during a law-school clinic that female professors took as threats. Lane also told one professor she was the type of woman who did not know how to deal with men and was intimidated by them, and that Lane would not work with female students. Lane acted paranoid and thought others were talking about him and conspiring against him. Lane admitted he had been accused of auditory hallucinations before but said it was untrue. The second incident occurred during a bar-review course when Lane accused another student of stealing his keys and made threats. Lane also made intimidating and rude statements to law-school workers and was abrasive to other students during bar-review sessions, claiming everyone involved was against him because of racial animosity. Other events caused additional concern, especially his interactions with women. Work-related incidents included outbursts filling out an employment application and rudeness toward female employees. Lane admitted a recurring problem of being accused of acting intimidating toward women. During the investigation, Lane’s correspondence adopted a cavalier and sarcastic attitude toward the commission, and he gave members discourteous answers during his hearing and implied that the commission had personal or political motives against him. Finally, Lane omitted from his bar application some temporary employment, his prior admission to the Iowa bar, and even his previous admission to the Nebraska bar. The commission denied his application. Lane sued challenging the denial.