He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Loyola University New Orleans in 1967.
He received a Juris Doctor from the Fredric G. Levin College of Law at the University of Florida in 1970.
He was an assistant state attorney of Hillsborough County in 1973.
He was an Appellate Judge, Second District Court of Appeal, from 1993 to 1997.
Lazzara was nominated by President Bill Clinton on January 7, 1997, to a seat vacated by John H. Moore II.