Hays Mershon grew up in Newport News, Virginia. He received his BA degree in English from the University of Virginia 1968 and his LLB degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1971. While in Law School, Hays was named an editor of the Virginia Law Review, served on its Management Board and was elected to The Order of the Coif, the national law school honor society.

Hays joined the Atlanta law firm Hansell & Post in 1971 and was admitted to the partnership in 1976. In 1988, he moved his team and practice to King & Spalding and served as a senior partner with that firm for the remainder of his career. Prior to his retirement in 2001, he was a nationally recognized practitioner in the field of corporate acquisition financing, having a client base of national and international money center lenders that was unrivaled in the Southeast.

He has been active in community affairs and has served on the Boards of the Academy Theatre; the Alliance Theatre (Life Member); and the Atlanta Botanical Garden (Life Member); as well as the Advisory Board of the Friends of the Decorative Arts at the High Museum of Art. In his second community of Highlands, NC, he has been a member of the Board of the Highlands-Cashiers Chamber Music Festival and an early and long-term supporter of The Bascom, Highlands’ visual arts center.

Hays is married to the former Anna Jorgensen, an Atlanta native, who is also active in cultural and community affairs and, together, they have turned to active philanthropy in their recent years to further their civic and cultural interests.