As a young man Layton was greatly influenced by James Michener's The Drifters. Thus, after graduating from college he traveled the world. A vagabond. He ran with the bulls in Pamplona. He stomped grapes with his feet in Greece. He pulled giant crab pots off the floor of the Bering Sea.
After law school he attended Cambridge University in England where he obtained an advance degree in international law. After Cambridge he moved to Washington, D.C. where he worked in and out of government for over 35 years. During his career he practiced international law all over the world; often representing governments in disputes with other governments before the World Trade Organization in Geneva, Switzerland.
Layton has always been interested in the arts, appearing in two operas at the Kennedy Center as a supernumerary, while also raising three sons.
He and his wife split their time between homes in Florida and the South of France.
