Lazaro Cardenas, Esq.

I am an attorney and partner at The Law Offices of Patel & Cardenas LLC, with offices in Freehold and Jersey City, where I focus my practice on Estate Planning, Asset Protection, Trusts & Estates, Probate, and related real estate matters. My work centers on helping individuals, families, and business owners protect assets, preserve wealth, and create thoughtful plans that safeguard their legacy for future generations.

I regularly advise clients on revocable and irrevocable trusts, probate and estate administration, fiduciary obligations, business succession planning, and asset protection strategies designed to minimize exposure to court proceedings, creditor claims, and family disputes. My practice also includes probate litigation, trust disputes, and estate-related real estate transactions, including inherited property transfers and partition actions.

My experience in these areas led to my qualification by the Superior Court of New Jersey as an expert in Trust Law & Administration and Estate Planning & Probate Law during the Caneiro quadruple homicide trial, where I provided expert testimony regarding complex estate and fiduciary issues arising in that high-profile matter.

I earned my Juris Doctor from Rutgers Law School–Newark and am admitted to practice in New Jersey State Court and the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. Before entering the legal profession, I spent more than two decades in the financial services industry, including 18 years at Prudential Insurance Company of America, experience that continues to shape my practical and systems-oriented approach to estate planning, wealth preservation, and risk management.

Since founding the firm, I’ve had the privilege of working with countless families during some of the most important and difficult moments of their lives. I take my role as a counselor very seriously and take great pride in helping clients navigate emotionally and financially significant transitions with clarity, compassion, and practical solutions.

Every day, I strive to become a better practitioner, to expand my knowledge, and to provide better options and advice to the families who place their trust in our firm. Seeing the positive impact our work has on entire families and future generations remains one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.

I’ve also had the good fortune of partnering with an individual whose ethical values and dedication to clients mirror my own. Together, we have built a firm where collaboration across practice areas allows us to provide clients with comprehensive solutions under one roof. Many of our clients face legal issues that overlap estate planning, probate, real estate, asset protection, and litigation. Being able to address those challenges internally, without the need to involve multiple firms, creates tremendous value and continuity for our clients and their families.

I cannot say I always knew I would become a lawyer. My path to law school began much later in life. I attended college and law school in my late 30s and early 40s. I am the son of a farmer and a homemaker, and becoming an attorney was never something that seemed realistically within reach. When I returned to college in 2002, my original goal was simply to earn a degree and continue climbing the corporate ladder within a Fortune 100 company. At the time, I had already spent more than a decade in the corporate world, and that path seemed like the natural progression.

However, after completing my undergraduate studies, I realized I wanted something more meaningful and purposeful. With the encouragement and support of family and close friends, I made the decision to pursue a law degree. Looking back, it was one of the best decisions of my life. It allowed me to leave behind the corporate “hamster wheel” and dedicate myself to work that genuinely impacts people’s lives.

During college, I also became deeply involved in advocacy and social justice work. I joined the Latino Coalition of New Jersey (LCNJ), where I worked on immigration and civil rights issues, and I remain actively involved with the organization today, currently serving as the Director. That experience opened my eyes to how often vulnerable communities and individuals struggle to access justice or have their voices heard. In many ways, that work became the catalyst that pushed me toward law school and ultimately shaped the type of attorney I wanted to become.

Beyond private practice, I remain deeply engaged in community advocacy and public service. I serve on the boards of the Latino Coalition of New Jersey (LCNJ) and the Latino Action Network Foundation (LANF) where I currently serve as their Chief Compliance Officer. I also regularly speak at different events around New Jersey on education, leadership, and issues impacting Latino and minority communities. I am also the founding co-chair of the Latino Festival of Monmouth County, established in 2005.

In public service, I was appointed by NJ Governor Richard J. Codey to serve as a Commissioner of the Freehold Housing Authority in 2006 and was reappointed by then NJ Governor Jon Corzine in 2010, serving until 2018.

Today, our team of attorneys brings experience across multiple practice areas, allowing us to help clients overcome legal challenges involving estate planning, probate, trusts, real estate, foreclosure, fiduciary disputes, and asset protection matters. I continue to work closely with clients, families, and professionals to develop strategies designed to preserve generational wealth, protect vulnerable assets, and provide long-term security for the people they care about most.