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After he received his law degree, Lafargue moved to Shreveport to engage in the practice of law. He remained there for the rest of his life. After an unsuccessful but competitive race for district attorney of Caddo Parish,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_Nit21ZtgAMC&pg=PA326&dq=%22Malcolm+Lafargue%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ZxLhVKWZIcvuoAT-9IAw&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22Malcolm%20Lafargue%22&f=false|title=History of Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana|author=Corrine L. Saucier|date=1943|page=326|publisher=Pelican Publishing Company|location=Gretna, Louisiana|accessdate=February 16, 2015}}</ref> Lafargue was named in 1937 as assistant U. S. Attorney for the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana|Western District of Louisiana]] under Harvey Fields, a [[Huey Long|Longite]] political figure who was also coincidentally a native of Marksville. The Western District then encompassed forty of Louisiana's sixty-four parishes.<ref name=bio/>

After he received his law degree, Lafargue moved to Shreveport to engage in the practice of law. He remained there for the rest of his life. After an unsuccessful but competitive race for district attorney of Caddo Parish,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_Nit21ZtgAMC&pg=PA326&dq=%22Malcolm+Lafargue%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ZxLhVKWZIcvuoAT-9IAw&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22Malcolm%20Lafargue%22&f=false|title=History of Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana|author=Corrine L. Saucier|date=1943|page=326|publisher=Pelican Publishing Company|location=Gretna, Louisiana|accessdate=February 16, 2015}}</ref> Lafargue was named in 1937 as assistant U. S. Attorney for the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana|Western District of Louisiana]] under Harvey Fields, a [[Huey Long|Longite]] political figure who was also coincidentally a native of Marksville. The Western District then encompassed forty of Louisiana's sixty-four parishes.<ref name=bio/>

In 1939, Lafargue was assigned the task of investigating and prosecuting within the Western District the defendants in the Louisiana public corruption cases known as the Louisiana Hayride.<ref name=bio/> The corrupt practices led to the removal in Baton Rouge of [Governor]] [[Richard Leche]], succeeded by Lieutenant Governor [[Earl Long|Earl Kemp Long]],<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,761630,00.html|title=Louisiana: Jimmy the Stooge|publisher=''[[Time magazine|Time]]''|accessdate=February 11, 2015|date=July 10, 1939}}</ref> and LSU President [[James Monroe Smith]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lahistory.org/resources/dictionary-louisiana-biography/dictionary-louisiana-biography-s/|title=Smith, James Monroe|publisher=''A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography'' (Louisiana Historical Association)|accessdate=November 3, 2020}}</ref> Lafargue worked in the prosecution of Leche and other Long associates, the architect Leon C. Weiss, the contractor George A. Caldwell, and labor commissioner B. W. Cason.<ref name=mns>{{cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/84372066/|title=Lafargue to Be Long Foe|publisher=''The Monroe News-Star''|date=May 19, 1950|page=1|accessdate=November 3, 2020}}</ref>

In 1939, Lafargue was assigned the task of investigating and prosecuting within the Western District the defendants in the Louisiana public corruption cases known as the Louisiana Hayride.<ref name=bio/> The corrupt practices led to the removal in Baton Rouge of [[Governor]] [[Richard Leche]], succeeded by Lieutenant Governor [[Earl Long|Earl Kemp Long]],<ref>"Louisiana: Jimmy the Stooge," ''[[Time Magazine]],'' July 10, 1939.</ref> and LSU President [[James Monroe Smith]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lahistory.org/resources/dictionary-louisiana-biography/dictionary-louisiana-biography-s/|title=Smith, James Monroe|publisher=''A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography'' (Louisiana Historical Association)|accessdate=November 3, 2020}}</ref> Lafargue worked in the prosecution of Leche and other Long associates, the architect Leon C. Weiss, the contractor George A. Caldwell, and labor commissioner B. W. Cason.<ref name=mns>{{cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/84372066/|title=Lafargue to Be Long Foe|publisher=''The Monroe News Star''|date=May 19, 1950|page=1|accessdate=November 3, 2020}}</ref>

In 1941, [[U.S. President]] [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] elevated Lafargue from Assistant U.S. Attorney to U.S. Attorney. In 1946, after local officials had failed to act, Lafargue was directed by the [[United States Department of Justice]] to institute federal proceedings against six men in a case involving the lynching of 28-year-old John Cecil Jones and the mortal beating with a blowtorch of 17-year-old Albert Harris, Jr., two [[African-American]]s accused of prowling in the backyard of a white woman. The deaths occurred at Dorcheat Bayou west of [[Minden, Louisiana|Minden]] in Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana. The six defendants included deputy and later Sheriff [[O. H. Haynes, Jr.]], and Minden Police Chief Benjamin Garey Gantt. The charges against Gantt were dropped, and the other defendants were quickly acquitted.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q3V5P89TUAYC&pg=PA246&lpg=PA246&dq=Malcolm+Lafargue&source=bl&ots=_JXEcXFdUX&sig=jep-pcYIL9e8rGbU5RDqxvnPAy0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=fxbhVKn0C9jpoATmqoHQBA&ved=0CCwQ6AEwBDgK#v=onepage&q=Malcolm%20Lafargue&f=false|title=Lynching in America: A History in Documents|author=Christopher Waldrep|publisher=[[New York University]] Press|location=[[New York City]]|pages=146–147|date=2006|isbn=978-08147-9398-5|accessdate=February 16, 2015}}</ref>

In 1941, [[U.S. President]] [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] elevated Lafargue from Assistant U.S. Attorney to U.S. Attorney. In 1946, after local officials had failed to act, Lafargue was directed by the [[United States Department of Justice]] to institute federal proceedings against six men in a case involving the lynching of 28-year-old John Cecil Jones and the mortal beating with a blowtorch of 17-year-old Albert Harris, Jr., two [[African-American]]s accused of prowling in the backyard of a white woman. The deaths occurred at Dorcheat Bayou west of [[Minden, Louisiana|Minden]] in Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana. The six defendants included deputy and later Sheriff [[O. H. Haynes, Jr.]], and Minden Police Chief Benjamin Garey Gantt. The charges against Gantt were dropped, and the other defendants were quickly acquitted.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q3V5P89TUAYC&pg=PA246&lpg=PA246&dq=Malcolm+Lafargue&source=bl&ots=_JXEcXFdUX&sig=jep-pcYIL9e8rGbU5RDqxvnPAy0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=fxbhVKn0C9jpoATmqoHQBA&ved=0CCwQ6AEwBDgK#v=onepage&q=Malcolm%20Lafargue&f=false|title=Lynching in America: A History in Documents|author=Christopher Waldrep|publisher=[[New York University]] Press|location=[[New York City]]|pages=146–147|date=2006|isbn=978-08147-9398-5|accessdate=February 16, 2015}}</ref>