Ms. Lay received a Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University in 2004.  She received her Juris Doctor degree, cum laude, from Southwestern University in 2008.

While attending law school, Ms. Lay served as a judicial extern to the Honorable Otis D. Wright, II, United States District Court Judge for the Central District of California, and as an extern with the Land Use Division of the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office.  Ms. Lay also served as a Staff Editor with the Southwestern University Law Review, and was named to the Dean's Honor List from 2005-2008.  Ms. Lay taught Civil Procedure workshops for Professor Dennis Yokoyama from 2006 through 2008, and was a Research Assistant to Professor Austen Parrish, researching U.S. withdrawal from international regimes to support an article on extraterritoriality.  Ms. Lay received CALI "Excellence for the Future" Awards for earning the highest grade in her Civil Procedure, Legal Research and Writing, and Administrative Law classes.