Jim Lane, Fort Worth lawyer, former councilman dies at 78

Jim Lane was nothing if not a fighter. In his trademark cowboy hats, boots and suits, the well-spoken, popular defense attorney — who was fiercely loyal and had a sense of humor as big as Texas itself — spent a lifetime fighting for those who couldn’t fight for themselves, both in the courtroom and at City Hall. Lane’s fighting days ended early Sunday. He died at a hospital of natural causes, a family friend said. Lane was 78. Lane loved all things Fort Worth — the cowboy traditions, the historic north side, even “Molly,” the iconic longhorn he would eventually fight to make sure was the official symbol of Cowtown. Former Fort Worth Mayor Ken Barr met Lane in 1962 when they were pledge brothers in the Delta Tau Delta fraternity at Texas Christian University. “I don’t think there are any stories I can tell about that,” he said on Sunday.

One day in the late 1990s, Lane, an advocate for the north side of Fort Worth, walked into Barr’s office with another in a line of ideas. “He said, ‘We’re going to walk longhorns down Exchange Avenue,’” Barr recalled. Spurning criticism that presenting the animals on a public street was a safety risk and that it would not become a successful tourist attraction, Lane formed the Fort Worth Herd of longhorns that can be seen in a twice-daily cattle drive in the Stockyards. Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker in a statement wrote that Lane, “was a trailblazer in countless ways, always carrying a fierce love for Fort Worth. We all owe Jim a debt of gratitude for his decades of service to our city.” Lane was born in Uvalde, but he spent much of his childhood visiting his grandparents in north Fort Worth. He soaked up the cowboy culture — and learned about Cherokee Indians, as his grandfather was one. His family moved to Fort Worth. He earned a bachelor’s degree from TCU and a law degree from Baylor. Lane first made headlines in the 1970s as a 24-year-old lawyer in the U.S. Army defending soldiers accused of taking part in the My Lai massacre. After winning an acquittal for his clients, he returned home three years later to practice law, settling in on the city’s north side, where he opened up a practice and bought an historic home. Lane was committed to police officers and firefighters and understood the challenges that public servants face, Barr said.