James (Beau) W. Hays

Biography

James (Beau) W. Hays has acted as lead counsel in litigation matters for over twenty years, specializing in commercial disputes and bankruptcy law for over twenty years. He also has extensive experience in all areas of creditors’ rights, collections, construction law, business law, and civil litigation. He has successfully prosecuted federal Miller Act cases and bankruptcy creditors’ cases in all three US District Courts in Georgia. He has taken well over 100 jury and bench trials to judgment in a litigation career that dates back to the late Eighties.

In 1995, with GSH partner Emory Potter, Mr. Hays founded the commercial law firm of Hays & Potter, PC, which was recognized nationwide as a pre-eminent source of counsel and expertise in service of the business credit community. Coming to GSH, Mr. Hays aims to provide the same cost-effective, results-oriented service to business, credit, and construction clients nationwide.

Mr. Hays is Immediate Past President of the Commercial Law League of America (CLLA), having served as Recording Secretary of the League, Chair of the Creditors’ Rights Section, Chair of the Southern Region, and a representative to the Board of Governors. In addition to being active in the Bankruptcy Section of CLLA, he is an Associate Member of the National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees. Mr. Hays was a founding member of the Creditors Rights Section of the State Bar of Georgia, and has served as Legislative Liaison for that Section.

He is an editor for the National Association of Credit Management’s Handbook of Credit and Commercial Laws, focusing on chapters related to materialman’s liens and construction bonds. In 2012, he was a speaker at the National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees’ annual convention, on the topic of hiring outside professionals. Mr. Hays is regularly invited to speak on creditors’ issues, construction law, and bankruptcy for the National Association of Credit Management and many of its constituent credit groups. He is regularly an advocate for creditor’s rights at the state and federal level. Also, in 2012, Mr. Hays served as a Faculty Advisor to the inaugural JJL Process Server’s Standards Summit.

Mr. Hays earned his J.D. at the University of North Carolina School of Law, where he was a member of the Holderness Moot Court Bench. He received a B.A. in Political Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is admitted to practice in Georgia, the U.S. District Court for the Northern, Middle, and Southern Districts of Georgia. He is a member of the State Bar of Georgia and has earned the AV Preeminent® peer review rating by Martindale-Hubbell.

Mr. Hays is a native Atlantan and graduate of Walton High in Marietta. Mr. Hays also serves as counsel for Basset Hound Rescue of Georgia, a non-profit, volunteer effort dedicated to save abandoned and mistreated basset hounds. A long-time patron of the arts, Mr. Hays recently completed scripts for one-man show and theatre versions of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”.

Education & Bar Admissions

Education

• University of North Carolina School of Law, J.D.
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, B.A.

Bar Admissions

• Georgia
• U.S. District Court for the Northern, Middle, and Southern Districts of Georgia

In the News

• 7/15/2013 - James Hays to Moderate Several CLE Webinars for the Commercial Law League of America and Financial Poise
• 1/15/2013 - GSH Adds Three New Attorneys to the Atlanta Office