Attorney
Legal
Jay’s practices in the following areas:
- Employment
- Business
- Real Estate
- Personal Injury
- Estate Planning
- Civil Litigation (involving all of the above)
For over 30 years Jay has represented individuals and businesses of all sizes, from proprietorships to public companies, throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern California. After graduating from Golden Gate University School of Law “ With Highest Honors” (summa cum laude), 2nd in a class of over 200, Jay practiced first in a downtown San Francisco business law firm (Fleischmann and Strauss) and then in Lafayette, CA (Foley, McIntosh, Frey, Claytor and Strauss, and later Strauss Nickerson LLP), before opening his practice in Marin County, CA and forming the Law Office of David C. Winton, based in Novato.
Business
During the dot.com boom, Jay co-founded Muchocode.com, a business to business e-commerce portal. That company was later merged into Team America, Inc., a publicly traded (NASDAQ) human resource company based in Columbus, OH, with over 15,000 employees nationwide, where Jay was the Executive Vice President-General Counsel in charge of law and HR, the Corporate Secretary and a member of the Board of Directors. This endeavor required his moving to Ohio.
On his return to California, Jay returned to the practice of law, but along the way founded a San Francisco based mortgage brokerage and a small HR company based in Marin County. He also served as Vice President of Law and Business Development at a small venture firm based in Sausalito, CA.
Civic
Jay has held a number of significant public positions and participated in many civic organizations, including:
- Mayor: Lafayette CA (1999-2000)
- Councilmember: Lafayette City Council
- President: Lafayette Chamber of Commerce
- Commissioner: Novato and Lafayette Planning Commissions
- Board of Directors and Executive Committee: Novato Chamber of Commerce, Marin Economic Forum, Novato Theater
- Member: Lafayette and Novato Rotary
Personal
Jay was born and raised in the New York City area. He earned his B.A. from the State University of New York at Binghamton, and after a stint as a New York City cab driver, he moved to California where he taught Expository Writing at Cal State Hayward while working toward a Masters in English Literature.
He is married to Stephanie Bennett-Strauss, M.D., a behavioral and developmental pediatrician, has 3 kids, 2 grandkids, dog(s) and cat(s), all above average. He also enjoys golf, poker, politics, history and literature.
Education
- Golden Gate University School of Law, San Francisco, California
- Honors: summa cum laude
- Honors: With Highest Honors
- Honors: 2nd in a class of over 200
- State University of New York at Binghamton
- B.A.
Past Employment Positions
- Fleischmann and Strauss
- Foley, McIntosh, Frey, Claytor and Strauss
- Strauss Nickerson LLP
Areas of Practice
- Business
- Employment
- Real Estate
- Personal Injury
- Estate Planning
- Civil Litigation (involving all of the above)
Pro Bono Activities
- Mayor: Lafayette CA, 1999 – 2000
- Councilmember: Lafayette City Council
- President: Lafayette Chamber of Commerce
- Commissioner: Novato and Lafayette Planning Commissions
- Board of Directors and Executive Committee: Novato Chamber of Commerce, Marin Economic Forum, Novato Theater
- Member: Lafayette and Novato Rotary
