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Biographical Sketch

Louis J. Lefkowitz was the 59th attorney general of New York State. He was appointed by the legislature on January 1, 1957 and elected for his first term in November 1958. He served as attorney general until 1978 when he was succeeded by Robert A. Abrams.

Lefkowitz served as an assemblyman in the state legislature (from the 6th Assembly District in New York County) from 1928-1930, and served on the Judiciary Committee. While in the assembly he authored laws extending benefits to public employees, providing greater relief to mothers under the Child Welfare Law, strengthening the Election Law, and prohibiting issuance of injunctions without a hearing in major disputes. He was also a pioneer of civil rights legislation in the state. In the 1940s and 1950s he held a variety of appointed positions at the municipal and state levels, including time as a justice of New York City Municipal Court and Deputy State Tax Commissioner.

As attorney general Lefkowitz favored programs to protect consumers, investors, and businessmen. He created a Civil Rights Bureau, a Bureau of Consumer Frauds and Protection, a Bureau of Charity Frauds, a Bureau for Syndicates and Cooperatives, and a Charitable Foundations Division in the Department of Law.