Jay has been voted by his peers as one of “The Best Lawyers in America” (eminent domain/land condemnation) which is considered to be a singular honor conferred on a lawyer by his peers. He also was selected as a “Best Lawyer in North Carolina” (eminent domain/land condemnation) by NC Magazine, is considered one of North Carolina’s “Legal Elite” by Business North Carolina magazine (criminal defense), named a Top 10 Attorney by the National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys and was named to the “Top 100 Trial Lawyers in North Carolina” by the American Trial Lawyers Association. In 2014, he was named ‘Lawyer of the Year for Eminent Domain (Raleigh/Durham). Jay is a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum (personal injury), one of the most prestigious groups of trial lawyers in the country. He was honored by North Carolina’s Super Lawyers® Magazine. Only 5% of the state’s lawyers are named by Super Lawyers®. He also has the highest peer rating available for legal skills and ethics (AV®) from Martindale-Hubbell, and was named the ACLU-NC Paul Green Award winner for his work on death penalty defense.

Jay is a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the North Carolina Advocates for Justice. He is admitted to practice before the courts of the State of North Carolina, the United States District Court for the Middle, Eastern, and Western Districts of North Carolina, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court.

Jay is a frequent speaker and writer for continuing legal education seminars throughout North Carolina, training other attorneys in many areas of litigation, including eminent domain, criminal defense, personal injury and legal ethics. He is actively engaged in efforts to abolish the death penalty with the Center for Death Penalty Litigation and the North Carolina Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.​