Jay Diaz

Jay Diaz is Counsel at Darby Kolter & Roberts, LLP in Waterbury, Vermont. His practice includes workers’ compensation, personal injury, constitutional and civil rights, commercial litigation, public records, appellate representation, and other litigation matters. He serves new and existing clients through a practice grounded in contested proceedings. His work involves presenting claims and legal arguments in settings where an individual’s rights or interests may depend on judicial review.

Diaz earned a J.D. from Boston College Law School in 2012 and a B.A. from New York University in 2006. At law school, he was the Lois and James Champy Fellow and received the Robert S. Pitcoff Memorial Scholarship. His education supports the research and advocacy involved in litigation, including examining the relationship between a case’s facts, governing law, and available legal remedies.

Diaz began as the 2012–2014 Vermont Poverty Law Fellow, advocating for low-income students’ educational rights. He joined the ACLU of Vermont in 2015, litigating constitutional and civil rights matters in state and federal courts. In 2022, he became a senior attorney at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, representing clients in federal free speech litigation involving students, journalists, public employees, and social media platforms.

Jay Diaz is admitted in Vermont, the US District Court for the District of Vermont, and the Second and Ninth Circuits. He belongs to the Vermont Association for Justice and state and national bar associations. His public interest background informs a litigation practice that spans individual claims and broader rights questions, helping clients examine the legal issues and procedural choices involved in pursuing or responding to a dispute.

Law Office Affiliations

• Attorney, Darby Kolter & Roberts, LLP
• Member, Vermont Bar Association
• Adjunct Law Professor, Vermont Law and Graduate School
• Reporter, Vermont Judiciary’s Advisory Committee on the Rules of Civil Procedure

Licensed State

• Vermont

Education

• Boston College Law School
  Juris Doctor (JD)

Awards & Badges