Lauer was born on November 10, 1871, in
New York City, New York, the son of William Emanuel Lauer and Cecilia Hornthal. Lauer attended
Columbia Grammar School and
Columbia University. He graduated from
Columbia Law School with an LL.B. in 1891, studied law in the office of Hoadly, Lauterbach & Johnson, and was admitted to the bar in 1892. He practiced law with Mortimer Stiefel from 1895 to 1897. He was appointed private secretary of New York Supreme Court Justice James A. Blanchard. in 1900. In 1905, he was the
Republican candidate for Justice of the Municipal Court. He also ran with the
Municipal Ownership League and was elected Justice over Democratic candidate
Moses Herrman. He was re-elected Justice in 1915 and 1925. In January 1933, Mayor
John P. O'Brien appointed him President Justice of the Municipal Court. He was an authority on conciliation arbitration, especially in connection with labor disputes, and wrote a number of articles in legal journals on the subject. He also wrote ''Lauer's Municipal Court Practice
in 1916 and The Tenant and his Landlord'' with Victor House in 1921. In 1933, Lauer was elected Justice of the
New York Supreme Court, First District as a Republican-
Fusion candidate, the only person elected Justice. He was inducted as Justice in January 1934. In September 1937, he paid over ten thousand dollars in duties and penalties on jewelry, furs, and wearable apparel his wife Elma failed to declare when they returned from a trip to Europe. In the fall of 1938, the maid, outraged at anti-
Hitler remarks made at a Lauer dinner party, informed the federal authorities that Elma smuggled again. A search of the Lauer apartment revealed undeclared finery, which led to an intensive federal investigation. Elma,
Jack Benny, and
George Burns were all revealed to have received articles smuggled into the country by the self-styled diplomat Albert N. Chaperau. Chaperau was sent to prison for two years while Benny and Burns pleaded guilty to smuggling indictments and paid fines. Since it was Elma's second offense, she received a three-month jail sentence and a $2,500 fine in April 1939. In that month, Federal Attorney
John T. Cahill sent a letter to Governor Herbert H. Lehman charging Laurer with being involved in the second smuggling. Lehman forwarded the letter to the
State Legislature to decide what actions should be done to him, and the Senate and Assembly's Judiciary Committees convened to discuss the issue. In response, in May 1939 he announced he would resign effective June 15 that year; he insisted he was innocent, but he believed the accusation compromised his usefulness as judge and it was necessary for him to resign. His resignation led to the investigation against him to be dropped. In 1936, Portuguese Consul General Verdades de Faria decorated Lauer with the cross of the Officer of Devotement of the
Republic of Portugal. He was a director of
Surprise Lake Camp, vice-president and trustee of the
Educational Alliance, a national council member of the
Boy Scouts of America and vice-president of its Manhattan council, receiver of the
Silver Beaver Award for his service to the Boy Scouts, and a member of the
American Bar Association, the
New York State Bar Association, the
New York City Bar Association, and the National Republican Club. He attended
Temple Emanu-El. Lauer moved to
Paris, France, in 1945, but when he fell ill he flew back to New York City. He died a month later in
Mount Sinai Hospital on November 9, 1948. He was buried in
Salem Fields Cemetery. ==References==