Born in Atlantic City, New Jersey on June 30, 1936, Laskin attended Camden High School, graduating as part of the class of 1954.
Starting in 1966, he entered private practice, working throughout Camden County as a municipal attorney and representing numerous boards of education, as well as various non-profit organizations He founded and served as chairman of Glendale National Bank.
[3] In January 1968, Laskin was one of two Republican labor leaders who abstained from joining the Republican majority that voted by a 56–11 margin to repeal provisions in state law that had been passed by a Democratic majority in the previous session providing unemployment benefits to workers in labor disputes who were on strike or who had been locked out by their employer.
[8] The assembly's special investigation committee chastised two legislators, but found that there was no evidence to support the claims against Laskin and three other elected officials.
Camden County Democratic Party boss George Norcross decided to target Laskin's seat, after the Senator refused to appoint Norcorss's father to a seat on the New Jersey Racing Commission; in addition to an effort to elect Democrats at the county level, Norcross recruited Adler to run against Laskin.
[19] Laskin became the only Republican incumbent to lose his seat in the wake of opposition to Democratic Governor James Florio's income tax plan.