Jay Bodzin

Senior Associate Attorney

Jay Bodzin was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and moved to Oregon in  1998 to attend Reed College. He graduated in 2002 with a B.A. in Political Science, and a Senior Reactor Operator’s license for Reed’s nuclear research reactor – the first political science major to ever hold this position. After graduation, he worked as a dispatcher for a small locally-owned delivery company. In 2004, he entered Northwestern Law School at Lewis & Clark with a Dean’s Fellowship for Academic Excellence. He graduated in 2007, with honors awards for pro bono work and community service. In 2008, he opened the Northwest Law Office, a collaborative workspace for solo practitioner attorneys to develop their practices. After nine years in solo practice as a domestic relations litigator, he joined the firm of Kivel & Howard LLP as a research associate. He has since joined McLain Legal Services PC.

Jay is licensed to practice before both the Oregon State Bar and the Federal Bar for the District of Oregon.  He served as Secretary of the Oregon State Bar’s Pro Bono Committee in 2010, as its Chair in 2011, and Chair of the Oregon State Bar’s Unlawful Practice of Law Committee in 2018. He volunteers as a mentor to new attorneys through the New Lawyer Mentoring Program, and as a fee arbitrator for the Oregon State Bar’s fee arbitration program. He also regularly serves as an attorney for minor children in contested custody cases through the Multnomah County Circuit Court. He has been a volunteer judge for the Classroom Law Project‘s Mock Trial Competition since 2014. 

On a personal level, Jay is an avid bicyclist and amateur archer, and enjoys reading, games, and cooking, though he often forgets to eat.