Jay Cristol (born Ahorn Jay Cristol; September 25, 1929) is a judge, poet, author, pilot, and a lecturer of naval warfare.
He served as a Special Assistant Attorney General of Florida from 1959 to 1965 and as a trustee in bankruptcy from 1977 to 1985.
He was appointed judge to the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida on April 17, 1985, and served as the district's Chief Bankruptcy Judge from 1993 to 1999.
Cristol served his country as a U.S.
Navy aviator and a captain in the US Naval Reserve, with 38 years of service in the diverse roles of both a carrier pilot and a Judge Advocate General Corps (JAG) lawyer.