backNEW YORK, September 8, 2014 — The law firm of King & Spalding announced today that Robert D. Hays, Jr. was re-elected chairman of the firm by the partnership for an unprecedented fourth term. His new three-year term begins on January 1, 2015.
Hays was elected to his first term as chairman in 2005. As chairman, he initiated a strategic review of the firm to ensure King & Spalding was positioned to serve its national and international clients and be a professionally rewarding firm for its lawyers to practice. Today, King & Spalding is a financially and operationally disciplined platform for growth, yet still retains its collegial and performance-based culture.
Under Hays’ leadership, King & Spalding materially strengthened its brand; devoted additional resources to key practice areas; increased the depth and breadth of its talent base; achieved significant increase in its AmLaw profitability ranking rising to 22nd; and opened 12 new offices in Abu Dhabi, Austin, Charlotte, Dubai, Frankfurt, Geneva, Moscow, Paris, Riyadh (affiliate), San Francisco, Silicon Valley and Singapore.
"Key to the firm's recent success has been the commitment of the partners, associates and other professionals to serve the long-term best interests of our clients and the firm," said Hays. "These efforts have paid dividends, and we are very excited by the platform and opportunity we have to continue to build King & Spalding for the future."
During his tenure at the firm, Hays has held a variety of leadership positions within the firm, including 15 years as a member of the firm’s governing Policy Committee, which he now also chairs and 12 years as leader of the firm’s Tort and Environmental Practice Group which includes more than 200 lawyers whose practices are devoted to defending product liability and mass tort litigation, where he was a leading trial lawyer in that practice group.
Hays is a summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he was a Morehead Scholar, and he earned his law degree from Vanderbilt University Law School, where he was selected to the Vanderbilt Law Review and was a Patrick Wilson Scholar.
About King & Spalding
Celebrating more than 125 years of service, King & Spalding is an international law firm that represents a broad array of clients, including half of the Fortune Global 100, with 800 lawyers in 17 offices in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The firm has handled matters in over 160 countries on six continents and is consistently recognized for the results it obtains, uncompromising commitment to quality and dedication to understanding the business and culture of its clients. More information is available at www.kslaw.com.