Jay Chen serves as Senior Counsel to the General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Education. In this role, he serves as a principal advisor to the General Counsel on a variety of Federal education law and policy issues, providing advice on special projects, strategic planning, risk management, partnerships, and operational management of the Office of the General Counsel since 2012. Mr. Chen is also responsible for advising on cross-cutting technology and legal issues facing the Department including standing up and managing Departmental e-Discovery processes for complex litigation and other large-scale records review and productions.

Prior to joining the Office of General Counsel in 2012, Mr. Chen served in a variety of roles in San Francisco and Washington D.C., assisting and advising on public interest issues, focusing on assisting at-risk immigrant communities on refugee and asylum matters, domestic violence, family law, and human trafficking issues. Prior to becoming an attorney, Mr. Chen served for three years as a Peace Corps Volunteer, working as a University English teacher in the Republic of Kazakhstan. There, in addition to having a full teaching schedule, Mr. Chen also worked to improve teacher quality and methodology, won a grant for the development of a language resource center, and also worked with community development organizations.

Mr. Chen is a native of California and a graduate of its public schools. Mr. Chen holds two B.A.s in Political Science and Legal Studies from the University of California, Berkeley. Mr. Chen received his J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law and is an active member of the California Bar Association.