Lawrence S. Schwartz, Esq., a partner of the Weiner Law Group in Parsippany will be honored by Chabad Center of Northwest New Jersey as its Man of the Year at its 32nd annual Founders Dinner on Jan. 21, 2020 at the Crystal Plaza in Livingston. Larry has been a leader in legal, public and charitable affairs for five decades.
After graduating from Lafayette College and then Rutgers Law School, Larry began practicing law, first working for and learning from some of the best, including former Governor Brendan Byrne and Senator and later Judge Martin Greenberg, and before long established his own firm. Elected to the Belleville Board of Education, Larry quickly rose to the position of President of the Board, and then President of the New Jersey School Boards Association. Once that service ended, he developed a specialty in education law and became one of New Jersey’s leading experts on school law.
Larry has been general counsel to hundreds of school boards and has served on state and national education task forces, has presented testimony before the New Jersey State Legislature and the State Board of Education on topics such as teacher tenure, public employees’ right to strike, business efficiencies, and has lectured at state and national conferences on countless occasions. He served as a member of the Rutgers Board of Governors and as a Commissioner of the New Jersey Public Employment Relations Commission. In 2011 Larry was recognized by his peers at the Association of New Jersey School Board Attorneys with their lifetime “Distinguished Service Award.”
As important as his career has been to Larry, devotion to family and to charity define him as well. Today Larry still actively practices law, but he devotes a great deal of time his time to community and charity, values learned from his upbringing. He has donated and raised funds for his alma mater Lafayette College, serving on their Northeast Regional Council, for Morristown Medical Center, and for many others.
The Chabad Center has grown into a multifaceted network of diversified social, charitable, and religious programs in greater Northwest New Jersey through community centers established in Morris, Sussex, and Warren Counties. A new Educational Center, the first of its kind in Northwest New Jersey, provides innovative and meaningful opportunities for children and adults of all ages. Although the Center’s framework is deeply rooted in Jewish tradition, it conducts many charitable nonsectarian programs in conjunction with local school districts, hospitals, and municipalities.