Jay earned his undergraduate degree and Juris Doctorate from The University of Alabama. Jay is a member of the Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, and American Bar Associations and has enjoyed membership in the Alabama Defense Lawyers Association. He has served as an adjunct faculty member at The University of Alabama, Auburn University at Montgomery and Jones School of Law.

Jay has extensive experience in municipal law and health care law, having represented numerous government agencies and local, regional, and national health care providers. He has also represented banking institutions and insurance companies. Jay has served in a number of capacities as a Special Assistant Attorney General for the State of Alabama.

Jay's broad experience has included active membership in the Health Care Section of the American Bar Association, the Forum Committee on Health Care Law of the American Bar Association, the American Academy of Hospital Attorneys, and the Litigation section of the American Bar Association.

His record of service to the community includes membership and leadership of various initiatives at Vaughn Forest Baptist Church of Montgomery, where he was a member of the original Administrative Ministries Team. Jay has also been active in numerous political campaigns and in the administrations of three Alabama governors.

Jay and his wife, the former Rushan Goodson of Brent, Alabama, have two college-aged sons, Justice and Jeff , who are both students at The University of Alabama. The family is active in the ongoing work of Calvary Baptist Church of Tuscaloosa, which places a great emphasis on its historic ministry to college students.