He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Texas A&M University in 1966, where he participated in the MSC Student Conference on National Affairs committee.
He received a Juris Doctor from the University of Texas School of Law in 1969, graduating number one in his class.
He was in the United States Army from 1970 to 1971 as a Judge Advocate General's Corps prosecutor in Vietnam.
[2] Lake was nominated by President Ronald Reagan on March 30, 1988, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas vacated by Judge Ross N. Sterling.
[2] Besides the Enron cases, Lake has participated in other notable cases: On October 23, 2006, Lake sentenced Enron executive Jeffrey Skilling to the minimum possible sentence under federal guidelines, 24 years, with significantly less time actually expected to be served by Skilling.