About Lazaro
Lazaro Cardenas combined an early interest in public life with a later turn to law. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Rutgers University–Newark in 2008 and completed his Juris Doctor at Rutgers School of Law–Newark in 2012. During law school he worked on coursework in contracts, trust and estates, and real estate, subjects that have shaped much of his subsequent practice.
His career began outside the courtroom. In the mid-1990s he served as director of information systems at Prudential Insurance Company of America, a role that placed him at the intersection of technology and corporate operations. He moved into community and nonprofit work over the next decade. In 2005 he was vice president of funds development for the Latino Festival of Monmouth County, and in 2006 he accepted an appointment as a commissioner on the Freehold Housing Authority. Those experiences broadened his perspective on local governance and community services.
Cardenas entered private legal practice after law school and took on a partnership role in 2015 at Patel & Cardenas, LLC. A year later he stepped into an in-house leadership post as chief compliance and legal officer for the Latino Action Network Foundation. In 2017 he served on the Law & Justice Committee for Governor Phil Murphy’s transition team, joining other lawyers and policy advisers in reviewing the state’s legal structures and priorities during a change in administration.
He is a court certified mediator in the New Jersey courts, a qualification that reflects work in dispute resolution as well as transactional matters. His legal training and varied public service roles combine to inform a practice that moves between negotiated settlements, regulatory compliance, and traditional client counseling.
Throughout his career Cardenas has worked across private practice, nonprofit governance, and public service. His background in contracts, trust and estates, and real estate shows in the matters he handles. He continues to practice at Patel & Cardenas, LLC, where he manages compliance issues, mediations, and transactional work. His current practice focuses on compliance, mediation, and transactional work in contracts, trusts and estates, and real estate.
