Jane Lang

Last updated
Jane Lang
NationalityAmerican
Known forLawyer, philanthropist
Relatives Stephen Lang (brother)

Jane Lang is an American lawyer, arts philanthropist, and arts education promoter. She has been characterized as a neighborhood activist, the primary force responsible for revitalizing a run-down area of Washington, D.C. [1] [2] She is the daughter of entrepreneur and philanthropist Eugene Lang, and the older sister of actor Stephen Lang. [3]

Contents

She also co-founded the law firm Sprenger + Lang. In her legal career, Jane Lang has specialized in employment litigation and housing law. In several ground-breaking cases, Jane Lang has settled class-action lawsuits against employers for sexual harassment, race discrimination, and other similar broad-reaching cases. [4]

At Sprenger + Lang she has represented plaintiffs in employment discrimination cases, including race discrimination class actions that were settled against the Pillsbury Co. and Northwest Airlines, with consent decrees in 1990 and 1991. She was lead counsel with Paul Sprenger in In re Pepco Employment Litigation [5] and numerous other cases litigated during the first half of the 1990s. She was instrumental in negotiating settlements in several of Sprenger + Lang's cases, including cases against Maytag and Control Data Corp.

Education

From 1970 until 1979, she practiced law with the Washington D.C. law firm of Steptoe & Johnson, becoming its first female partner in 1977. From 1979 to 1981, she served as General Counsel for the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. After that, she returned to her former law firm Steptoe & Johnson until 1986.

After leaving Steptoe & Johnson, she founded her own firm, developing a plaintiffs' practice. In 1989, she and Paul Sprenger joined their firms, becoming Sprenger + Lang. Though now she is "Of Counsel" to the firm, she remains involved with Sprenger + Lang's class action lawsuit for age discrimination in the TV Writers' Case.

Philanthropy

Jane Lang served as the first Chairman of the Board of Directors and President of the Atlas Performing Arts Center, in Washington, D.C. [6] Lang is currently listed as Founder, Chair Emeritus. [7] The locally revered but ruined Atlas Theatre in a run-down neighborhood in northeast Washington was renovated and now functions as a multiple-use performing arts center. [1] The non-profit arts center has become the namesake institution the area, leading the revitalization of the so-called "Atlas District" in Washington. [8] [9]

Jane Lang is a trustee of The Sprenger Lang Foundation, a private family charitable organization based in Washington, D.C. The foundation's primary purpose is to support the arts and arts education. Grants and contributions are made primarily to producing theaters, musical groups, dance troupes, educational institutions, health care facilities, and other cultural institutions. The Sprenger Lang Foundation solicits new scripts as part of an annual Nathan Miller History Play Contest. The producing division of the foundation is Tribute Productions, presenting plays and musicals.

Honors

Paul Sprenger and Jane Lang were included in Washingtonian magazine's 2007 list of Washingtonians of the year. [10]

Notes

  1. 1 2 Marks, Peter (Sunday, March 27, 2005). "For the Atlas, a Bold New World: In a Neighborhood That Once Burned, New Arts Center Fuels Hope for Renewal", The Washington Post, Page N01.
  2. ↑ Irwin, Neil(Monday, September 23, 2002). "An Agreeable Chorus on the Atlas Theater", The Washington Post, Page E12.
  3. ↑ Stark, John (1990-05-28). "Forgoing His Father's Millions, Stephen Lang Bootstraps to Acting Fame with the Help of a Few Good Men. Vol. 33. № 21.". People.com. Retrieved 2013-07-26.
  4. ↑ Locy, Toni (Thursday, October 23, 1997). "Bank to Pay $58 Million in Age Bias Case - First Union Layoffs After Two Mergers Led to Suit," The Washington Post, Page A01.
  5. ↑ York, Michael (Sunday, February 21, 1993 ). "PEPCO Bias Suit Heads For $38 Million Settlement - Thousands Could Get Payments in 7-Year-Old Case Brought by Black, Female Workers," The Washington Post, Page A01.
  6. ↑ Horwitz, Jane (Tuesday, September 12, 2006). "Backstage: Revitalized Atlas Aiming To Make a World of Difference", The Washington Post, Page C05.
  7. ↑ http://www.atlasarts.org/about/leadership/ "Board of Directors: Officers", Atlas Performing Arts Center web page
  8. ↑ Hahn, Fritz (Friday, September 8, 2006 Weekend section). "H Street Life", The Washington Post, Page WE25.
  9. ↑ Risen, Clay (Sunday, December 16, 2007). "Day Out | Washington: H (as in Humming) Street", The New York Times.
  10. ↑ Milk, Leslie and Ellen Ryan (Tuesday, January 01, 2008). "Washingtonians of the Year 2007: Jane Lang and Paul Sprenger," Washingtonian Magazine.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I. King Jordan</span> First deaf president of Gallaudet University

Irving King Jordan is an American educator who became the first deaf president of Gallaudet University in 1988 after the Deaf President Now protest. Gallaudet is the world's only university with all programs and services designed specifically for deaf and hard-of-hearing students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Office of Special Counsel</span> Investigative and prosecutorial agency

The United States Office of Special Counsel (OSC) is a permanent independent federal investigative and prosecutorial agency whose basic legislative authority comes from four federal statutes: the Civil Service Reform Act, the Whistleblower Protection Act, the Hatch Act, and the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). OSC's primary mission is the safeguarding of the merit system in federal employment by protecting employees and applicants from prohibited personnel practices (PPPs), especially reprisal for "whistleblowing." The agency also operates a secure channel for federal whistleblower disclosures of violations of law, rule, or regulation; gross mismanagement; gross waste of funds; abuse of authority; and substantial and specific danger to public health and safety. In addition, OSC issues advice on the Hatch Act and enforces its restrictions on partisan political activity by government employees. Finally, OSC protects the civilian employment and reemployment rights of military service members under USERRA. OSC has around 140 staff, and the Special Counsel is an ex officio member of Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE), an association of inspectors general charged with the regulation of good governance within the federal government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">H Street (Washington, D.C.)</span> Set of east–west streets in the four quadrants of Washington, D.C., United States

H Street is a set of east–west streets in several of the quadrants of Washington, D.C. It is also used as an alternate name for the Near Northeast neighborhood, as H Street NW/NE is the neighborhood's main commercial strip.

Racial steering refers to the practice in which real estate brokers guide prospective home buyers towards or away from certain neighborhoods based on their race. The term is used in the context of de facto residential segregation in the United States, and is often divided into two broad classes of conduct:

  1. Advising customers to purchase homes in particular neighborhoods on the basis of race
  2. Failing, on the basis of race, to show, or to inform buyers of homes that meet their specifications.
<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steptoe & Johnson</span>

Step toe & Johnson LLP is an international law firm headquartered in Washington, D.C. with offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, London, Brussels, Beijing, and Hong Kong.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melody Barnes</span> American lawyer and political advisor

Melody C. Barnes is an American lawyer and political advisor. Formerly an aide and chief counsel to Senator Edward M. Kennedy on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Barnes later worked at the Center for American Progress, a think tank, before joining Senator Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign. After Obama took office as president, Barnes was appointed director of the Domestic Policy Council, serving in that post from January 2009 to January 2012. After leaving the White House, Barnes assumed roles at the Aspen Institute and New York University. Since 2016, she has been at the University of Virginia, where she teaches law and is the Co-Director of the UVA Democracy Initiative.

Paul C. Sprenger was an American attorney. Sprenger is best known as lead counsel of Jenson v. Eveleth Taconite Co., a discrimination case involving female iron miners in Minnesota.

Paul S. Devrouax, was an American architect. He founded the architectural design firm of Devrouax+Purnell, in Washington, D.C..

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atlas Performing Arts Center</span>

The Atlas Performing Arts Center is a multiple space performing arts facility located on H Street in the Near Northeast neighborhood of Washington, DC. Housed in a renovated Art Deco movie house, the facility is home to several arts organizations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hogan Lovells</span> American-British law firm

Hogan Lovells is an American-British law firm co-headquartered in London and Washington, DC. The firm was formed in 2010 by the merger of the American law firm Hogan & Hartson and the British law firm Lovells. As of 2022, the firm employed about 2,500 lawyers, making it the sixth largest firm in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gilbert F. Casellas</span>

Gilbert F. Casellas is an American lawyer and businessman. He is a private investor and business consultant in the Washington, D.C. area, a director of Prudential Financial, trustee of the University of Pennsylvania, and advisor to Toyota Motor North America, The Procter & Gamble Company, and Comcast Corporation. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Law Institute, trustee of the Pan American Development Foundation and Co-Editor-in-Chief of Workplace Harassment Second Edition 2018 published by Bloomberg Law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Raben</span>

Robert Raben is the founder and president of the Washington, D.C.-based lobbying and consulting firm The Raben Group, and was Assistant Attorney General at the Department of Justice under former President Bill Clinton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ida L. Castro</span>

Ida L. Castro is an American attorney and government official who served as Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) from October 23, 1998, to August 13, 2001.

Jane C. Sherburne is an American lawyer who currently servesas Senior Executive Vice President and General Counsel to The Bank of New York Mellon and as a member of the Council of the Administrative Conference of the United States. Sherburne is known primarily for her experience in crisis management, her work in civil rights, and her counseling to corporate boards and major financial institutions. Sherburne was Special Counsel to President Bill Clinton and managed the White House response to ethics investigations by the Independent Counsel, most notably during the Whitewater controversy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irvin B. Nathan</span> American lawyer

Irvin Bertram Nathan is an American lawyer from Washington, DC. He served as the Attorney General of the District of Columbia from 2011 to 2015. He was appointed in 2011 by Mayor Vincent C. Gray. He previously served as the general counsel of the United States House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011. Nathan announced his resignation the day after the November 2014 election, in which voters chose Karl Racine as the first elected Attorney General of D.C.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brianne Nadeau</span> American politician

Brianne Nadeau is an American Democratic politician in Washington, D.C., and a member of the Council of the District of Columbia representing Ward 1 since 2015. She defeated long-time incumbent Jim Graham in the Democratic Party primary and won the general election with 75% of the vote in 2014. She is the first woman to represent Ward 1 on the Council and the first D.C. Councilmember to give birth while serving in office.

Mary O. Eastwood was a pioneering American lawyer and civil rights advocate.

Kaiulani Lee is an American actress. She is best known for her portrayal of Rachel Carson in both the film and stage version of A Sense of Wonder, which she also wrote. A Sense of Wonder the film was released in 2010 Directed by Christopher Monger, Director of Photography by Haskell Wexler, ASC. She has been touring with the show for almost 30 years as well as with "Can't Scare Me...the Story of Mother Jones" which debuted at the Atlas Theater Performing Arts Center Space at George Mason University. In "Can't Scare Me.." also written by Lee, she portrays Mother Jones. The play is drawn from Mother Jones's autobiography, her letters, speeches, interviews and transcripts.

Maria Foscarinis is the founder of the National Homelessness Law Center, a not-for-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., United States, and dedicated to using the power of the law to end homelessness in America. From its founding in June 1989 to March 2021, Foscarinis served as Executive Director of the organization, which is She is a primary architect of the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act of 1987, now known as the McKinney–Vento Homeless Assistance Act, the first major federal legislation addressing homelessness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Debra Katz</span> American civil rights and employment lawyer

Debra S. Katz is an American civil rights and employment lawyer and a founding partner of Katz Banks Kumin in Washington, D.C. She is best known for representing alleged victims of sexual assault and sexual harassment, notably Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, Vanessa Tyson, Chloe Caras, and accusers of Congressmen Pat Meehan and Eric Massa, and whistleblowers facing retaliation, including most recently Dr. Rick Bright. Katz's primary practice areas at her firm are employment and whistleblower law, where she represents victims of workplace discrimination and retaliation.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.