Lucy Lang, NY inspector general, has always wanted rules evenly applied
New York State Inspector General Lucy Lang. (Photo by Molly Zacher)
New York State Inspector General Lucy Lang grew up in New York City and Westchester County in a family devoted to theater and the artistic world. Her father is an actor, and her mother was a costume designer.
Lang, the oldest of four children, is the only sibling who chose a career path outside of the arts. She thinks her decision to pursue a legal career has something to do with being interested in rules and how they were applied.
“As the bossy older sister, I had this desire for an even application of the rules among all the kids,” says Lang, 43. “I wanted to be the person making decisions, and I realized that as a lawyer, especially one in public service, I could make choices that were about the rules in ways that were meaningful in people’s lives.”
She has served as state inspector general since November 2021. With a staff of 120 employees in seven offices around New York, Lang oversees investigations into fraud, corruption and abuse in state government. She also designs and implements practices to promote governmental integrity, accountability and transparency. Under her leadership, the office has investigated and released reports about racial disparities in discipline in prisons and issues in the manufacturing and administration of drug tests for incarcerated individuals. Her office also reviewed the policies for supporting survivors of domestic violence in the state workforce. The work led to an executive order from the governor that modernized the state’s workplace policies, procedures and trainings.
“What I think is so exciting about working in oversight is that we have the opportunity to help elevate the public’s confidence in government,” Lang says. “We are watching how it operates, and when there’s something wrong or not functioning as efficiently as it could, we are in the position to identify the problem, then do something about it.”
She was also a council member of the American Bar Association’s criminal justice section from 2020 to 2023.
Lang didn’t grow up knowing for certain that she wanted to be a lawyer, but she knew social justice was important in her family. Her grandfather, Eugene M. Lang, was an entrepreneur who became something of a folk hero when, in June 1981, he promised an entire East Harlem sixth grade graduating class he would pay for their college educations. The promise led to the creation of the I Have a Dream Foundation, which has helped more than 20,000 children nationwide.
“I was very close to my grandfather and grew up knowing the students,” Lang says. “It influenced my desire to go into public service.”
Lang chose Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, which her grandfather attended. She graduated in 2003 with a major in political science and a minor in history and went straight to Columbia Law School, graduating in 2006.
She began her career in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, initially working on appellate cases and later as a special counsel for policy and projects. She also worked as executive director of the Manhattan DA Academy, an in-house think tank focused on legal training and reform policy for prosecutors. During that time, Lang developed Inside Criminal Justice, a college class for prosecutors and incarcerated students to study criminal justice together inside a prison.
In 2018, Lang became director of the Institute for Innovation in Prosecution, through which she advocated for criminal justice reforms. She also ran for Manhattan district attorney but lost to Alvin Bragg in the 2021 Democratic primary.
“I really wanted that job and believed in my candidacy,” Lang says. “But what it did do was put me on the radar of people in the criminal justice world.”
Her name came up when New York Gov. Kathy Hochul was looking for an inspector general. She was appointed to the position in October 2021.
“It has been an incredible joy and learning experience,” says Lang, who splits her time between New York City and Albany. Her domestic partner and two children live in the city, and when Lang is in the state capital, she stays with her parents, who live close by.
Recently, Lang’s daughter said she was proud of her mother’s job as inspector general.
“It made me happy that she knows I am in a position to make changes in this place we call home,” Lang says.
This story was originally published in the October/November 2024 issue of the ABA Journal under the headline: “Oversight Official: Lucy Lang, the oldest of four, always wanted rules evenly applied.”
Correction
Print and initial online versions of this article should have credited this photo of Lucy Lang to Molly Zacher. The Journal regrets the error.My Path to Law celebrates the diversity of the legal profession through stories detailing attorneys' unique and inspiring careers.
