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David J. Hayes

Advisory Council Member
David J. Hayes

David J. Hayes is a nationally recognized environmental, energy and natural resources lawyer who leads the State Energy & Environmental Impact Center at NYU School of Law, which supports state attorneys general in their advocacy for clean energy, climate and environmental laws and policies.

Hayes is an Adjunct Professor of Law at NYU School of Law, and previously served as the Deputy Secretary at the U.S. Department of the Interior for Presidents Barack Obama (2009-2013) and Bill Clinton (1999-2001). As second in command, he was the Interior Department's Chief Operating Officer, with line authority over its nine major bureaus and 70,000 employees. From 2013-2017, he was a visiting lecturer at Stanford Law School and affiliated with Stanford's Woods Institute for the Environment and Precourt Institute for Energy. Hayes is a member of the board of directors for the Coalition for Green Capital; the Advisory Council of Stanford’s Bill Lane Center for the American West; and founder of the U.S. Wildlife Trafficking Alliance. Before and between his service in the Clinton and Obama administrations, Hayes worked in the private sector as a partner and global chair of the Environment, Land & Resources department at Latham & Watkins, an international law firm.

Hayes graduated summa cum laude from the University of Notre Dame and received his JD from Stanford Law School.