Denise Hays has a background in special education. Her experience as a teacher in the public school system provided her direct insights into the challenges school districts face. She focuses her legal practice in the areas of special education, student related issues and the development of special education cooperatives and shared services arrangements.

Prior to joining Walsh Gallegos, Denise was a staff attorney for four years with the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB). She served as a hearing officer for school boards across the state assisting them in conducting local termination, nonrenewal, and grievance hearings. She began her legal career as a briefing, then research, attorney for the Honorable Austin O. McCloud, former Chief Justice of the 11th Court of Appeals. 

A popular and frequent speaker, Denise has trained hundreds of board members, special education directors, administrators and teachers. She frequently lectures at universities and has presented at numerous conferences for the Texas School Administrators' Legal Digest, the University of Texas School of Law, LRP and the National Employment Law Institute (NELI). She is the former chair of the School Law Section of the State Bar of Texas and served on the board for several years.