Larry Hayes, Jr. is a founding Member of Hayes-Thomas, PC located in Nashville, Tennessee.  As an undergraduate, Mr. Hayes studied Civil Engineering at Vanderbilt University.  He then attended St. John’s College, University of Oxford, England, where he studied English and Parliamentary Government.   He then obtained a degree in Business from Rhodes College in 1989 and went on to study law at both the University of Tennessee and Vanderbilt University, obtaining his law degree in 1992.   

For over 33 years, Mr. Hayes has focused exclusively on divorce cases involving large estates or complicated issues at the trial and appellate level.   He has represented numerous individuals throughout his career, including entertainers, professional athletes and other high-profile individuals.

Mr. Hayes was the fourth lawyer from Nashville and the twelfth lawyer from Tennessee to be named a Fellow in the esteemed American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, whose members are generally recognized by judges and attorneys as preeminent family law practitioners with a high level of knowledge, skill and integrity.    Since 2007, Mr. Hayes has been listed each year in “Best Lawyers in America” and “Super Lawyers” in the area of Matrimonial and Family Law; and since 2018, he has been named one of the “Top 100 Lawyers in Tennessee” each year.

In 2018, Mr. Hayes obtained what is believed to be the highest alimony in futuro award ever rendered by a Court in a contested divorce trial in Tennessee ($17,500 per month for life that was affirmed on appeal). More recently, Mr. Hayes obtained what is believed to be one of the largest awards of attorneys’ fees ever made in a contested divorce trial in Tennessee (over 1 million dollars that Mr. Hayes’ celebrity music client was awarded against his wife)

Mr. Hayes has lectured on numerous family law issues throughout Tennessee and has also appeared on more than one occasion on Fox National News as a family law expert, most notably when he was asked to provide commentary on the Anna Nicole Smith proceedings and in 2021 Mr. Hayes was recognized as an expert in Tennessee Matrimonial Law by the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles.

Born in Nashville, Tennessee, December 24, 1965

Distinctions:

• Over 30 years of legal experience focused exclusively on divorce matters.

• The fourth lawyer from Nashville and twelfth lawyer from Tennessee to be named a Fellow in the Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.

• Selected as one of the “Best Lawyers in America” by his peers every year since 2007.

• Selected to “Top 100 Lawyers in Tennessee” list every year since 2018 by Super Lawyers.

• Named a Fellow of the Nashville Bar Foundation in 2014.

• Appointed by the Tennessee Supreme Court to serve as a member of the Disciplinary Hearing Committee for the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility, which oversees discipline of all lawyers in the state.

• Formerly Licensed Rule 31 mediator (certified as a mediator in 1994 by the American Arbitration Association)

• Founding Member of the law firm Hayes Thomas PLC in Nashville, Tennessee.

• Mr. Hayes is a frequent lecturer and writer on matrimonial and family law topics, and has created a Divorce Guide to provide clients with general information on the divorce process