David Hayes
Co-Founder and Partner. Commercial contracts, employment counseling, and business litigation for Texas employers — anchored by years inside the legal department of an Austin SaaS company.
David Hayes
Co-Founder & Partner
Biography
David grew up in a family that ran a small construction business in central Texas, which is to say that he learned what an indemnity clause was approximately a decade before he learned the legal term for it. He went to Texas A&M expecting to take over the family business and to Baylor Law for the express purpose of learning enough to keep it out of court. He stayed in the law.
After Baylor he clerked for a Travis County District Court judge, then spent three years as a commercial litigator at a Houston firm, primarily on contract disputes and non-competes. In 2015 he moved in-house as the second lawyer at a fast-growing Austin SaaS company, where he led the legal function through a Series C, a major commercial reorganization, and approximately three hundred thousand vendor MSAs. That in-house tour shaped the way he practices today: get the contract clean enough that no one ever has to call him about it again.
David rejoined Margaret at Sterling & Hayes as a partner in 2018, anchoring the firm's commercial and employment practice. He drafts and negotiates the documents that small and mid-market Texas businesses sign every week — master services agreements, statements of work, NDAs, employment offer letters, separation agreements, vendor terms, channel partner deals. When clients do end up in litigation, he is the partner who appears in Travis County courtrooms on their behalf.
He is the parent in the carpool line who will not be late, a former rugby player whose knees disagree about whether he was any good, and a recreational pit-master who has opinions about post oak.
Representative Matters
- Restructured commercial contract architecture for an Austin SaaS company growing from 15 to 240 employees, including templated MSA, DPA, and order form suite still in use today.
- Successfully defended a Travis County restaurant group in a multi-claim wage-and-hour matter, obtaining dismissal of class allegations on summary judgment.
- Negotiated channel partner and reseller agreements for a Texas industrial software company entering distribution arrangements across the Gulf Coast.
- Counseled a 90-person Austin professional services firm through a remote-work policy overhaul, classification audit, and updated employee handbook compliant with Texas Workforce Commission guidance.
- Lead litigation counsel in a contract dispute resolved through binding arbitration on favorable terms, preserving a multi-year strategic vendor relationship for an Austin manufacturing client.
Speaking & Publications
- Co-author, "The Texas Non-Compete After the FTC: A Practical Playbook for Employers," 2024.
- Featured speaker, "Drafting the Master Services Agreement You Actually Want to Sign," Austin Tech Council, 2023.
- Continuing legal education presenter, "Employment Law for Founders," South Texas College of Law CLE program, 2022 and 2024.
- Quarterly contributor, "Inside the Texas Workplace" employer briefings published by Sterling & Hayes Legal.
Memberships & Honors
- State Bar of Texas — Labor & Employment Section
- Austin Bar Association — Litigation Section
- Travis County Bar Association
- Texas Rising Stars, Employment Litigation: Defense, 2018–2022
- Texas Super Lawyers, Employment & Labor, 2023–2025
- Baylor Law School Alumni Mentor
Need contracts that hold up — or counsel that keeps you out of court?
David handles the day-to-day commercial and employment work that keeps Texas businesses running. Reach out for a contract review, employment matter, or active dispute.