Norvie L. Lay received a B.S. from the University of Kentucky, a J.D. from the University of Louisville, and an LL.M. and S.J.D. from the University of Michigan. Since joining the Brandeis School of Law faculty in 1964, Professor Lay has taught a wide variety of courses including conflicts, contracts, decedents' estates, federal income tax, estate and gift tax, fiduciary income tax, tax procedure, estate planning, and international business transactions. His research and writing has focused on conflicts, tax and estate planning. His book, Tax and Estate Planning for Community Property and the Migrant Client, has been used as a desk book for trust companies and estate planners. He has served as a visiting professor at the Southwestern Law School, New York Law School, and the University of Iowa.

Professor Lay is a member of the Louisville, Kentucky, American, and International Bar Associations and currently serves on a number of committees in each association. He currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Ministering to Ministers Foundation and St. Catherine College. He is a member of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws; a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel; and a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Planning Counsel.

Professor Lay is a frequent Lecturer at tax and estate planning groups, including major tax and estate planning institutes, estate planning councils, and numerous other professional groups and in-house law firm programs. He has lectured in all fifty states, several Canadian provinces, Mexico, Europe, Asia, South America, Australia, and Africa.