About Lance E.
Lance E. Bastian approached law after an early career in the biological sciences. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Zoology with a minor in Chemistry from Brigham Young University in 1998. He then pursued graduate studies in biomechanics and physiology at the University of South Florida in 2006. Bastian returned to Utah for law school, completing a J.D. in 2011 at Brigham Young University J. Reuben Clark Law School, where his studies emphasized criminal law and trial practice.
His first professional steps in the legal system came in 2011. He served as a deputy at the Utah County Lawyer’s Office. That same year he worked as a judicial law clerk for the Fourth District Court in Provo. These roles gave him exposure to both the prosecutorial side of county practice and the day-to-day workings of the trial bench. The combination informed his sense of procedure and courtroom pacing.
Bastian has maintained ties to the local legal community. Since 2011 he has been a member of the A. Sherman Christensen Inn of Court. The Inn is a place where trial lawyers, judges and other practitioners meet to discuss practice, ethics and trial craft. That sustained involvement indicates an ongoing interest in the craft of litigation and the professional standards that govern it.
His academic background is unusual among lawyers. A foundation in zoology and graduate work in biomechanics and physiology give him a scientific perspective on evidence and causation. He brought that perspective into law school, where he studied criminal law and trial practice. Those early studies showed through in his initial government work and in the trajectory of his career.
Today Bastian works at Nelson Naegle, PLLC. He continues to draw on courtroom experience and the technical instincts developed during his science studies. Colleagues describe him as methodical in preparation and concise in court, preferring clear organization over rhetoric. He has experience in courtroom procedure, motion practice and the practical demands of litigation.
He remains licensed to practice in Utah and has appeared in proceedings before the 10th Circuit. His membership in local professional organizations keeps him engaged with trial advocacy issues and ethical practice. He practices at Nelson Naegle, PLLC, where his work draws on his background in criminal law and trial practice.
