Justice Leon D. Lazer earned a B.S. from the City College of New York in 1942. He served for over three years in the U.S. Army during World War II. He then earned an LL.B. from New York University School of Law in 1948 and was admitted to the bar in the same year. Lazer practiced law for over 50 years, both in private practice and as a partner in several firms.
He won election as a Justice of the Supreme Court in 1972 and was designated as an Associate Justice of the Appellate Division, Second Department in 1979. He retired from the Appellate Division in 1986. Following retirement, he has worked as a professor and Associate Dean at the Jacob D. Fuchsberg Touro Law Center. He also worked as a partner at Shea & Gould from 1987 to 1988, during which time he helped form the Officer of the Appellate Defender, an organization he chaired for three years. Since 1989 he has served as Special Counsel at his son’s law firm, Lazer, Aptheker, Feldman, Rosella & Yedid. He has also served as a Court Examiner under Mental Hygiene Law Article 81.
Justice Lazer has served as a member of organizations including the American, New York State and Suffolk County Bar Associations, the New York State Association of Supreme Court Justices, the Scribes Association of Supreme Court Justices of New York State, the American Law Institute and the American Judicature Society. He was Chairman of the Judicial Hearing Officer Selection Committee for the 10th Judicial District from 1990 until 2007, and served as Chairman of the New York State Pattern Jury Instructions Committee for 30 years. He also served on the Temporary State Commission on Tax Relief for Long Island.
Sources
“Hearing Officer Resume: Hon. Leon D. Lazer.” National Arbitration and Mediation (NAM), 2010. Web. 27 Mar. 2012. http://www.namadr.com/ho_resume.cfm?jcode=2453.
“Leon D. Lazer.” Jacob D. Fuchsberg Touro Law Center, 2012. Web. 27 Mar. 2012. http://www.tourolaw.edu/AboutTouroLaw/bio.aspx?id=19.
“Leon D. Lazer.” Lazer, Aptheker, Rosella & Yedid, P.C., 2010. Web. 27 Mar. 2012. http://www.larypc.com/our-attorneys/leon-d-lazer/.