Sam Hayes

Raleigh, NC

Sam grew up outside of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He is a 1994 graduate of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he majored in economics and minored in business administration. He received his law degree from Wake Forest University School of Law in 1998. Sam began his legal career with the international law firm of Arnold & Porter in Washington, DC.

In 2015, he returned to his native North Carolina to join Governor Pat McCrory’s administration as General Counsel at the Department of Environmental Quality. While at DEQ, Sam was appointed Special Counsel by Governor McCrory in actions against the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulatory overreach.

In the Waters of the United States Rule, or “WOTUS,” litigation, Sam proudly stood with North Carolina’s farmers to oppose what would have amounted to a taking of all agricultural lands east of Interstate 95. In the so-called “Clean Power Plan” action, Sam fought against the EPA’s cynical attempt to take over North Carolina’s power grid and severely punish the state’s rate payers.

Sam currently serves as General Counsel to North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore. In that role, he has directed litigation in state and federal court involving voter ID, felon voting, charter schools, opportunity scholarships, public school funding, and right to farm. He has also fought against judicial activism in Moore v. Harper, the landmark Elections Clause case recently heard by the United States Supreme Court.

Outside of work, Sam has served on the UNC Board of Visitors and the Wake Law General Counsel Advisory Committee. Sam is also an active member of the Federalist Society and the Republican National Lawyers Association.

Sam lives in Raleigh, North Carolina with his wife, Adriane, their daughter, Anna, and their son, Walker.