Michael S. Hays is board-certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in the area of Personal Injury Trial Law. He has handled hundreds of cases involving products liability, premises liability, general commercial litigation, insurance coverage, legal ethics and professional liability cases.

Mr. Hays graduated from North Texas State University with a B.B.A. in 1970, earning his Doctorate of Jurisprudence from South Texas College of Law in 1974. In 1982, Mr. Hays co-founded the firm of Hays McConn Rice & Pickering and served as President of the firm until it was acquired by LeClairRyan, a Richmond, Virginia law firm which has over 375 attorneys. Mr. Hays founded his current firm, Michael Hays Law, PLLC in January 2016.

Mr. Hays joined the South Texas College of Law Board of Directors in 2005 and in the same year he received the College’s Distinguished Alumnus Award. In 2008 he was named as the Chairman of the Board and served in that capacity for six years before being named Chairman Emeritus.

Mr. Hays is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, (ABOTA) and has been named a Texas Super Lawyer since its inception. He has also repeatedly been named one of the Best Lawyers in America and has been named by Martindale Hubbell to the Bar Register of “AV Preeminent” Lawyers. In addition, he is a member of the Texas Association of Civil Trial and Appellate Specialist. He is a Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation. Since the inception of his practice, he has been a member of the Texas Association of Defense Counsel where he has served as Board Member and as Regional Vice-President.

Throughout his legal career, Mr. Hays has found ways to maximize his clients results by utilizing the full range of alternative dispute resolution (“ADR”) methods available in the legal community. Mr. Hays has personally participated in more than 300 mediations representing both plaintiffs and defendants. Because of his vast legal experience and knowledge of the law, Mr. Hays has been selected to serve as mediator and arbitrator in complex civil cases.

In addition to his four decades of legal experience, Mr. Hays has prior experience as a Chairman of the Board for Kingwood Bank where he also chaired the Loan, Compliance, Audit and Insurance Committees. Mr. Hays served as a Director for Partners Bank of Texas where he chaired the Corporate Governance and IT Committees and served on the Audit and Loan Committees. He is a Founder and current member of the Board of Directors for Plains State Bank where he serves as Chairman of the Corporate Governance and Compensation Committees, in addition to his service on the Audit, Loan, IT and ALCO Committees. Lastly, Mr. Hays is a Coastal Conservation STAR Board Committee Member, which is a non-profit organization that provides college scholarships to prospective students under eighteen years of age. The Organization has funded or agreed to fund more than $5,525,000.00 in college scholarships since its inception.