Maddy Hayes

Maddy focuses her practice on complex executive compensation and employee benefits matters in public and private mergers and acquisitions and capital markets transactions. She is also experienced in drafting employment and severance agreements, and advising on incentive program design, implementation, and management. Maddy also maintains an active pro bono practice and has provided employment law support to numerous non-profit organizations.

Before joining Linklaters, Maddy worked in the Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits practice in the New York and London offices of another leading international law firm. Maddy is also proficient in Spanish, having passed the CEREL Legal Spanish exam.

Work highlights

Maddy has advised on transactions including:

• Getir: advising on the U.S. executive compensation and employee benefits aspects of its acquisition of online grocery company FreshDirect Inc. from Ahold Delhaize USA.
• Emirates Telecommunication Group Company: advising on the employment and incentives aspects of its USD$400m investment in Careem Super App.
• Q-Energy: advising on the U.S. executive compensation and employee benefits aspects of its acquisition of Heelstone Renewable Energy, LLC, a North Carolina-based developer of utility-scale solar projects.
• Elia Group (and its subsidiary WindGrid USA): advising on the U.S. executive compensation and employee benefits aspects of its acquisition of a 35.1% stake in energyRe Giga Projects.
  
   

Before joining Linklaters, Maddy worked in the Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits practice in the New York and London offices of another leading international law firm, where she was the Pro Bono Liaison for the Social Mobility working group. During 2020, Maddy interned for four international human rights organizations in Costa Rica, Mexico, Tanzania, and the Dominican Republic.

Maddy is part of the 2024 Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) Pathfinder program, which aims to connect high-potential early-career diverse attorneys from LCLD Member organizations with foundational leadership skills and relationship-building resources during a seven-month professional development program. At the University of Oxford, she was the Vice President of the Oxford Law Society and a Linklaters Access Law Ambassador. 

Maddy received her law degree at the University of Oxford (Jesus College) and obtained a Master’s in Law and Business Management from the University of Law (London).

Maddy is a dual-qualified lawyer licensed to practice in New York, England and Wales.