Clifford E. Lazzaro, P.C.

Focus and practice areas

Clifford E. Lazzaro, P.C. works across four areas that the site groups under a single heading: criminal law, family and matrimonial law, appellate law, and municipal court matters. The firm operates from an office on US Highway 9 in Freehold, in Monmouth County, on an appointment-only basis.

The criminal side carries the most detail. The firm names homicide, robbery, sex offenses, weapons charges, drug crimes, white collar crime, and DUI/DWI as matters it handles. Those are charges that move through New Jersey Superior Court, and the site lists that court as part of the firm's regular work.

Family and matrimonial work has its own list. Divorce, equitable distribution, child custody and parenting time, child support, alimony, prenuptial agreements, and restraining order hearings all appear. In my opinion, the specificity here matters: a firm that names equitable distribution and parenting time separately is describing real procedural stages, and a reader can match their own situation against the list.

The attorney behind the name

Clifford E. Lazzaro began his career on the prosecution side. He was an Assistant Prosecutor in the Essex County Prosecutor's Office from 1988 to 1992, and he held an appointment as Special Deputy Attorney General for the State of New Jersey from 1991 to 1992.

The site puts numbers to that period. Lazzaro presented over 1,000 cases to the Grand Jury, conducted about 30 jury trials, and handled more than 15 bench trials. Grand Jury volume of that size means sustained exposure to how the state builds and screens charges before they reach a courtroom.

He moved to criminal defense in 1992 and has practiced on that side since. That gives roughly three decades of defense work following four years of prosecution, a sequence that shows up often in criminal practice and shapes how an attorney reads the other side's file.

Education

Lazzaro earned a BA from New York University in 1981 and a JD from Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center in 1985. The site states both years plainly, which is more than many firm biographies bother to do.

Courts and reach

The firm's court list extends past state practice. Alongside New Jersey Superior Court, the site names the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Federal admissions in two states point to a practice that follows cases across the Hudson. Charges filed in EDNY or SDNY sit under different procedural rules and different sentencing practice than a New Jersey state indictment, and a defense attorney needs separate admission to appear in each.

The Third Circuit reference belongs with the firm's appellate work. Appeals and post-conviction relief appear as a named practice area, so the firm handles matters after a trial court has ruled, at both the state and federal level.

Geographically, the firm lists service across counties throughout New Jersey while keeping the single Freehold office. Criminal and matrimonial matters are filed where the events occurred or where the parties live, so a Monmouth County base with statewide coverage fits how those cases actually get venued.

How the practice is structured

The attorneys page names one lawyer: Clifford E. Lazzaro, listed as founder. A client working with this firm deals directly with the attorney whose name is on the door, and matters stay with him through the stages of a case.

The appointment-only arrangement tells a reader something about how the office runs. Time is booked in advance, and the schedule accommodates court appearances, which in criminal and family practice consume large portions of a working week.

As a reviewer, I find the combination of a solo attorney and a four-area practice worth noting. Criminal defense, matrimonial law, municipal court, and appellate work share a common thread in that all four turn on courtroom procedure and advocacy before a judge. The overlap is real, and Lazzaro's trial record sits at the centre of it.

What the record shows

The strongest evidence on this website is the trial and Grand Jury data. Firms in this space often describe experience in general terms. This one gives counts: 1,000-plus Grand Jury presentations, around 30 jury trials, 15-plus bench trials, all from the Essex County years.

Those figures document the prosecution chapter specifically. The site does not attach numbers to the defense years since 1992, so a reader gets a precise picture of the earlier period and a duration for the later one.

The site carries a conflict worth flagging: the home page dates the firm's founding to 1992, while the attorney profile puts the establishment at 1997. Either way, the practice has been running for decades under the same name.

The firm publishes no social media presence beyond a Justia reference. Its online footprint is the website itself, an approach that puts the burden of information on the pages the firm controls.

Who this firm fits

Someone facing an indictable criminal charge in New Jersey will find the deepest detail here. Homicide, sex offenses, and white collar matters carry long-term consequences, and the firm's stated focus on Superior Court practice lines up with where those cases are tried.

A person going through a divorce with property or custody questions will also find matching practice areas. Equitable distribution and parenting time are named directly, as are restraining order hearings, which sit at the intersection of family and criminal practice in New Jersey courts.

Clients with a federal case in New Jersey or New York City have a narrower field to choose from, and the firm's admissions in the District of New Jersey, EDNY, and SDNY are relevant on that front. Anyone weighing an appeal after conviction should note the Third Circuit practice.

The picture that emerges from lazzarolaw.net is a criminal defense practice with a prosecutorial foundation, extended into family law, municipal court, and appeals. In my opinion, the published trial counts and the dated prosecution appointments give a reader more verifiable material than most single-attorney listings provide. The firm has been practicing under this name in Freehold for over twenty-five years.