# Jay M. Jaffe

> Jay M. Jaffe was an American legal-marketing adviser and the founder and CEO of Jaffe Associates, later Jaffe PR. A former newspaper and television journalist and congressional press secretary, he built an agency devoted to the legal industry, adopted a virtual working model and advocated an integrated approach to public reputation. He died in 2012; three longtime managers purchased the agency from his estate in 2014.

- **Role:** Founder and former CEO at Jaffe (deceased, 2012)
- **Organizations:** Jaffe Associates / Jaffe PR / Jaffe, U.S. Army, U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, WRDW-TV, Legal Marketing Association, Mid-Atlantic chapter, National Press Club Building Corporation
- **From:** Chicago, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Known for:** Inducted into the PR News PR People Hall of Fame in 2010., Named among Lawdragon’s 100 Legal Consultants You Need to Know., Founded an agency devoted to the legal industry and developed a virtual consultancy model.

## Career timeline

- **Childhood** — Edited his fifth-grade newspaper in Chicago.
- **1960s** — Served in the U.S. Army and operated a military newspaper in Japan.
- **Late 1960s-1970s** — Worked in newspaper journalism in Augusta, Georgia, then as a news anchor and reporter at the CBS affiliate.
- **Mid-1970s** — Became press secretary to Congressman Jack Flynt and subsequently to the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.
- **1978** — Founded the legal-industry agency now known as Jaffe, according to the agency’s history.
- **2005** — Moved from Washington, D.C., to Colorado while continuing to lead the agency.
- **2009** — Presented Web 2.0 for Lawyers with Harry Margolis.
- **2010** — Renamed Jaffe Associates as Jaffe PR and advocated public reputation management; inducted into the PR News PR People Hall of Fame.
- **2012** — Died on November 21; the executive team continued agency operations.
- **2014** — Vivian Hood, Terry M. Isner and Melinda Wheeler purchased the agency from his estate.

## Achievements

- Inducted into the PR News PR People Hall of Fame in 2010.
- Named among Lawdragon’s 100 Legal Consultants You Need to Know.
- Founded an agency devoted to the legal industry and developed a virtual consultancy model.
- Helped create Howrey & Simon’s courthouse-themed litigation advertising.

## Latest updates

- **2022-03** — Vivian Hood marked 25 years at Jaffe and recalled being hired full-time by Jay in March 1997.
- **2014-07** — Three longtime managers acquired Jaffe Associates from his estate and retained the Jaffe name.

## Links

- Website: https://www.jaffepr.com/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/jay-m-jaffe
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-22