Hon. Leon Lazer, Former Town Attorney, Dies At Age 96

Leon D. Lazer

By Janee Law
jlaw@longislandergroup.com

Hon. Leon D. Lazer loved the law.

A staple in the state court system for decades, Lazer also carried his sense of justice and fairness with him through everyday life, said his son David.

“He was compassionate,” David added. “He had a very strong sense of fairness, justice and religious justice.”

Lazer, of Dix Hills, a former state Supreme Court justice and Huntington town attorney, and professor at Touro Law Center in Central Islip, died Jan. 17 of natural causes, his son said. Lazer was 96.

A World War II veteran, Lazer served nearly four years in the U.S. Army, participating in several campaigns, including Normandy, Battle of the Bulge and the Battle of Germany. He served with the Army in Germany until 1946.

After his service and graduation from City College of New York, Lazer went on to New York University Law School. He was admitted to New York State Bar Association in 1948.

In 1953, Lazer married Renee Rubel Lazer. The couple had two children, David and Deborah, and moved to Huntington in the late 1950s.

Lazer began his career with associate and partner roles at several city-based law firms. He then went on to practice as a single practitioner, and then public servant in Suffolk.

Come 1960 – after successfully helping former Huntington Supervisor Robert Flynn, a Democrat, win election – Lazer, a fellow Democrat, was appointed town attorney.

In a report published in the Dec. 17, 1959 issue of The Long-Islander, Flynn is quoted as calling Lazer an attorney “who will work for all the people, not a single party…”

Lazer spent four years in the role, and enjoyed numerous successes in court, his son said.

Outside of the courtroom, Lazer also served as a member of both the Temporary State Commission on Tax Relief for Long Island and the Suffolk County Charter Revision Commission.

He also co-chaired the Suffolk County Reapportionment Committee, spearheading the “Lazer Plan” that expanded the county legislature from 16 to 18 members.

In 1972, Lazer was elected to the state Supreme Court Appellate Division, Second Department. His 14-year stint on the bench began in January 1973 and ended with retirement in 1986, when he was the senior justice.

Through it all, Lazer also spent 30 years as chairman of the Pattern Jury Instructions Committee of the Association of Justices of the Supreme Court of the State of New York. The committee, which consists of 15 leading judges across the state, produces each year a four-volume set of model jury charges that serve as a resource for judges.

When it came time for retirement, Lazer didn’t slow down, but instead landed a role as professor and associate dean at Touro Law Center.

He also worked from 1987-1988 as a partner at former New York City-based law firm Shea & Gould, and helped form the Officer of the Appellate Defender, an organization that represents indigent people convicted of felonies, and which he chaired for three years.

In 1989, Lazer served as special counsel at his son’s Melville-based law firm, Lazer, Aptheker, Feldman, Rosella & Yedid; and also served as a court examiner under Mental Hygiene Law Article 81.

Hon. Gail Prudenti, Hofstra Law dean and former presiding justice of the Second Department, said Lazer was “widely respected for his keen intellect and wise judgement.”

She also pointed to the three separate occasions he was considered for the Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court. Prudenti called them a testament to the “impeccable reputation he enjoyed during his unparalleled 70-year legal career.”

Prudenti continued, “Judge Lazer was no less of a force after leaving the bench, having cemented his position in the legal community at Touro Law School, where, among other notable accomplishments, the Annual Supreme Court Symposium bears his name.”

Lazer’s son David, 63, of Huntington village, said his father was a perfectionist who loved being a judge, lawyer and law professor.

When he wasn’t trying to figure out ways to help others, Lazer enjoyed socializing with friends and traveling with his wife – the pair visited destinations like the Galapagos Islands, China, Japan, Europe and Canada.

Lazer also enjoyed being well-versed on whatever topic was being discussed, David said.

“He was an extraordinary man in the sense that he was very well read and could talk on a sophisticated and high-intellectual level about anything he was interested in,” David said.

That not only extended to his work with the law and court system, but also to current events, politics, the opera, history and sports.

Both Lazer and his son were big New York Mets fans, and David recalled the pair watching the Mets defeat Baltimore to win the 1969 World Series.

In addition to his children, Lazer is survived by two grandsons; sister Dolores Silver; and two nieces. He was predeceased by his wife Renee Rubel Lazer.

Arrangements were made by I.J. Morris Funeral Home in Dix Hills. The family observed shiva at the Lazer residence late last week, and earlier this week.

Memorial contributions can be made to The Long Island Alzheimer’s Foundation (Liaf.org).