Lazar's father Risto died in 1848, and his mother then remarried to vojvoda Šćepan Lješević in Drobnjaci clan. Lazar's uncle, Abbot Teodosije, then took Lazar as an orphan and accepted him into the Piva Monastery with the intention of teaching him literacy. From the age of 14, he took part in all the main battles against the Turks, starting in 1850s. During the battles between 1858 and 1862, Lazar met the Montenegrin Prince Danilo in Cetinje. Later, he opened the first stores in his hometown of Plužine, procured goods from coastal and Gacko traders, also organizing the export of cattle. He soon became the richest man and chieftain in Piva region, which enabled him to be independent in his military activities, even from Prince Nikola I, who proclaimed him vojvoda. Lazar Sočica was one of the most prominent leaders of the Herzegovinian uprising of 1875–77. When the area of Piva officially belonged to Montenegro by the decision of the Berlin Congress in 1878, Lazar Sočica remained the most influential military and political figure in the region.