Steve Lauer was born in 1952 in St. Louis, Missouri. He was the valedictorian of the 1970 graduating class of Cocoa High School in Cocoa, Florida. He attended Duke University where he was the recipient of the Burlington Industries Scholarship for Management Science Students. He was a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and served as a member of the AB Duke Scholarship Selection Committee. Steve graduated from Duke University in 1974 with high honors and a degree in Management Science.

Upon graduation, Steve took the North Carolina Certified Public Accountants exam which he passed in 1974 on the first seating. He worked briefly as a Public Accountant for Dobson, Jones and Bjerning in Merritt Island, Florida on both audit and tax projects. In 2000, he became a North Carolina certified public accountant (CPA).

In September of 1974, Steve enrolled in the College of Law at the University of Florida. At the University of Florida he served as both a legal research and legal writing instructor and graduated with honors in 1976.

Steve practiced for eight years in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida with a “tax boutique” firm. His practice included all aspects of taxation, including estate planning, estate and trust administration, tax controversies, tax audits, retirement plan design, drafting and planning and other general tax matters. He was admitted to practice before the Tax Court in 1979 and was admitted to practice for the United States District Court, Southern District of Florida in 1980, the Eleventh and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal in 1981.

In 1983 Steve became Florida Bar Certified in Taxation with the first group of lawyers in Florida to be certified as specialists.

In 1985 Steve moved to Vero Beach, Florida and opened a small law office which specialized in Wills, Trusts, Estate and Taxation. During the next 17 years he practiced by himself, with a small local firm, and with a regional firm. 

In 1994, Steve became certified by the Florida Bar in Wills, Trust and Estates.

Steve was a Director and Treasurer of the Riverside Theater, a Director, President and Volunteer-of-the-Year of the American Cancer Society. He has also been active in the First Presbyterian Church of Vero Beach, Florida as a Deacon and a member of the Endowment Committee.

Steve served as a Director, Secretary, Treasurer and President of both the Young Lawyers Division of the Broward County Bar and the Indian River County Bar Association. He is active in the Rotary Club of Vero Beach as a member and Director and a Director and Secretary of the Vero Beach Rotary’s Charity Foundation.