Judge Lawrence M. Lawson: Professional Background and Legal Expertise

Hon. Lawrence M. Lawson (Ret.) was the assignment judge for the Vicinage 9 Superior Court in Monmouth County in New Jersey. He was appointed to the bench by former Governor Tom Kean on January 16, 1987, becoming the first African-American judge to sit in Monmouth County. Lawson was reappointed for tenure in 1994 and retired from the bench on September 1, 2014.

During his judicial career, he held assignments in the Civil Division and Criminal Division, where he also served as presiding judge for three years. Then, in 1993, Lawson was appointed assignment judge of the Monmouth Vicinage, holding the distinction of being the first African-American to hold the position in the State of New Jersey. He remained in that capacity for twenty-one years until his retirement in 2014.

Lawson received a bachelor’s degree in sociology and anthropology from Bowie State University in 1969. He went on to complete a J.D. at The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law in 1972.

After graduating from law school, Lawson began his legal career as a judicial law clerk for the Hon. Thomas L. Yaccarino with the Monmouth County Superior Court.

After completing his clerkship, he moved on to work in the State Office of Legal Services at the Department of Community Affairs, where he quickly became the acting director. However, his time there was brief. The following year, Lawson opened his own private practice in the City of Asbury Park in 1974. He maintained his general law practice for the next twelve years.

Lawson was also a former municipal prosecutor for the City of Asbury Park (1981 to 1986).

In addition to his legal career, Lawson also spent time in the political arena. In 1980, he was a delegate for Ted Kennedy at the Democratic Convention in New York and later became a delegate for Walter Mondale at the Democratic Convention in San Francisco in 1984.

His political experience also included a stint as the Mayor of Neptune Township (1984 to 1986).

His memberships have included the American Bar Association, the Garden State Bar Association, the Monmouth Bar Association, and the New Jersey State Bar Association.

He served as a trustee of the Retired Judges Association of New Jersey and sat as a member of the New Jersey Special Committee on Attorney Ethics and Admissions and Senator Cory Booker’s Judicial Appointment Committee. In addition, Lawson served on the New Jersey Supreme Court’s Committee on Minority Concerns, Committee on Evidence, Joint Committee on Criminal Justice, and the Standards for Comprehensive Enforcement Committee.

He was also a member of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey Panel of Mediators and a lecturer for the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education.

From a civic standpoint, Lawson served on the Board of Trustees for Monmouth Medical Center and sat as a member of its Medical Executive Committee, Credentials Committee, and Surgery Chair Search Committee.

He received the Arthur T. Vanderbilt Award for Excellence in Judicial Administration from the New Jersey State Bar, the Professional Excellence Lifetime Achievement Award from the New Jersey Law Journal (2016), the Distinguished Service Award for Excellence in Continuing Education from ICLE, the Roger M. Yancey Award for Outstanding Achievement as a Jurist from the Garden State Bar Association, the President’s Achievement Award from the NAACP of Greater Long Branch, the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Man of the Year Award, and the New Jersey State Bar Foundation Medal of Honor, which is the highest honor bestowed by the Foundation.

After retiring from the bench, Lawson became of counsel at McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter, LLP in 2014.