Experience
as a Mediator, Working for Courts, and Working with Government
As a Mediator
Jay began mediating cases in 2000. Since then, he has mediated cases in Superior Court Civil, Family and Clerk of Court matters, including but not limited to personal injury, property disputes and damage, partition, probate, guardianship, torts, custody, equitable distribution, alienation of affections, prenuptial agreements, product liability, government disputes, and employment law. In the area of family law, he served as a civil custody Guardian ad Litem whose responsibilities included visiting and talking with the children, parents and collaterals in custody cases and making written recommendations to the court for the well-being of the children. He also was as a parenting coordinator where he worked with high conflict parents to help mediate, model, and resolve differences over custody and visitation so as to reduce the impact of their behavior on their children. He was also trained in collaborative law, where clients and their attorneys meet face to face and work together to reach agreements in their family and property separation and divorce
Working for courts
Jay worked with his fellow judge to establish and facilitate several Orange and Chatham County Courts Committees of stakeholders to work on any matter related to the administrative of justice, including court facilities and functions, court users, including non-English speaking users, procedural fairness, stakeholder relationships, courthouse security, evacuation policies, DWI discovery, expungements and deferrals, DNA samples, and protecting victims of domestic violence. In addition to presiding over court, Jay also was appointed to preside over Judicial Settlement Conferences to help parties and their attorneys reach agreements in their cases. He worked with teams in Recovery and Family Treatment Courts to establish approaches and policies to support participants in recovery and increase outcomes for their living healthy, successful lives.
Experience in government
As an Alderman, Jay’s service included serving on the steering committee for Shaping Orange County’s Future, the Chatham/Orange County Watershed Protection Taskforce, and other committees and initiatives focused on affordable housing, rezoning, historic preservation, youth safety, building community, farm and Rural character preservation, and strategic planning for school districts. Special initiatives he helped spearhead include mediation to resolve a lawsuit over the Aldermen’s decision to deny a petition for rezoning, design of a subdivision with open space regulations, historic and neighborhood preservation, architectural standards, guidelines for civil discourse during public meetings, and regulations encouraging mediation between town citizens and with town government.
As a citizen of Carrboro, he helped form the Friends of Old Carrboro, Inc. to promote preservation in Carrboro downtown neighborhood and commercial neighborhoods and served on and was chair of Northern Transition Area Advisory (Planning) Committee; the County committee for design of Twin Creeks County Park; and as a member and chair of the Orange County Planning Board.
