Jeff Lane

Employer:  Dentons

Title: Counsel

Social Media Handle(s):

Jeff Lane is a counsel at the international law firm Dentons. Jeff joined Dentons after spending 20 years in the U.S. federal government, serving in senior positions in the legislative and executive branches. From 2010 to 2013, he served as the Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs at the US Department of Energy. In this role, Jeff was the department's chief liaison to the US Congress. Jeff led the department’s congressional affairs through the challenges of budget debates, leadership transitions and nomination processes, and he communicated with Congress on key issues such as nuclear waste disposal policy and the liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports approval process. He worked closely with the White House Domestic Policy Council and the Office of Management and Budget on policy, programmatic and budgetary matters. He also played a critical role in shepherding the confirmation process for Energy Secretary Ernie Moniz.

Jeff also spent more than 15 years serving in senior legislative and management positions in the United States Senate. He began his career in public service working for seven years as the legislative director for Senator Jim Sasser (D-TN), who served as chairman of the Senate Budget Committee and a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Jeff was responsible for all issues relating to Sen. Sasser’s work on the Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee.

After Sen. Sasser left the Senate, Jeff worked on regulatory and legislative matters as an attorney in the general counsel’s office of the US Small Business Administration. He then returned to the Senate for three years to work as a senior aide to Democratic Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD). After spending several years as a counsel for the law firm of Womble, Carlyle, Sandridge and Rice, Jeff returned to the Senate in 2007 and served for three years as the chief of staff to Colorado Democratic senators Ken Salazar and Michael Bennet. As Sen. Salazar’s chief of staff, Jeff helped direct his extensive work on energy issues as a member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, the Finance Committee and the Agriculture Committee.