Biography
James Hays is a partner in the Houston office of Gibson Dunn, where he is a member of the firm’s Investment Funds Practice Group.
James advises private fund sponsors on the organization and operation of private investment funds, including with respect to fund formation, internal arrangements, secondary transactions, and other components of alternative investment management. He counsels leading sponsors across a diverse range of strategies in the energy, infrastructure, buyout, real estate, debt, and secondaries space, and frequently works with sponsors seeking to organize private funds for the first time.
James has extensive experience with the set-up of alternative investment funds in Luxembourg and the distribution of private funds in Europe. He frequently counsels some of the largest alternative asset managers on European regulatory matters, including with respect to the AIFMD, the CBDF, and the SFDR. James is a leading voice in the United States for Luxembourg fund formation and has been sought out by organizations such as the American Investment Council, the Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry, and the Luxembourg Private Equity and Venture Capital Association to speak on the same. His published works include a series of coauthored articles for The Investment Lawyer on the use of Luxembourg funds and he has lectured at the University of Luxembourg on parallel fund structures. The Texas Lawyer has recognized James as a lawyer “On the Rise”.
Before returning to private practice, James was a Vice President at Blackstone, where he oversaw legal and compliance matters related to Blackstone Real Estate Partners, one the world’s largest real estate private equity platforms. Apart from counseling Blackstone on matters related to multiple fundraises and co-investments, James also advised on regulatory and strategic initiatives for Blackstone’s global real estate portfolio, including investments in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Latin America.
Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, James was a partner at a large international law firm.
James received his Juris Doctor, summa cum laude, from Brooklyn Law School, where he was valedictorian of his class, an Executive Articles and Research Editor of the Brooklyn Law Review and an International Business Law Fellow. He received his Bachelor of Arts, with honors in the liberal arts, from Southern Methodist University.