Passion for Justice
 

Meet Robin Kimbrough Hayes

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Robin Kimbrough Hayes

Judge Robin Kimbrough Hayes grew up in a trailer park in Lexington, Kentucky as a latchkey child before attending Fisk University in Nashville. After earning her law degree from Emory Law School in Atlanta, she returned to Nashville to serve as Assistant Attorney General in Tennessee's Attorney General Office. Later she also served as Associate General Counsel for the Tennessee Department of Children's Services.

These professional experiences showed her that her heart is with everyday people. Judge Robin Kimbrough Hayes grew up in a trailer park in Lexington, Kentucky as a latchkey child before attending Fisk University in Nashville. After earning her law degree from Emory Law School in Atlanta, she returned to Nashville to serve as Assistant Attorney General in Tennessee's Attorney General Office. Later she also served as Associate General Counsel for the Tennessee Department of Children's Services and Legal Counsel for the Tennessee Coalition to End Domestic & Sexual Violence.

Besides her legal background, Judge Hayes holds a Master of Divinity from Vanderbilt Divinity School.  She pastored churches as a United Methodist ordained Elder for twenty years before her retirement and served as the Chaplain and Special Advisor to the President at Meharry Medical College.  Judge Hayes is a member of several community organizations, including Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc, Les Gemmes, Top Ladies of Distinction, Nashville Organized for Action and Hope, the NAACP, local chambers, and several bar associations. She is the recipient of the Napier Looby Bar Association Justice A.A. Birch Service Award, the Lawyers’ Association of Women Martha Craig Daughtrey Award, a Nashville Bar Association Fellow, has received Advocate of the Year from the Nashville Coalition Against Domestic Violence, a NAACP Nashville Branch Trailblazer Award, and an Athena Award nominee.

When Judge Hayes ran for judge, she pledged to increase justice access with the implementation of new types of courts to save on litigant expenses, including parking and missed work, conduct town halls, increase judicial access, and to ensure that people are treated fairly throughout the judicial process. Since becoming a judge, Judge Hayes has implemented numerous programs to follow through on these ideas and to improve access to justice, including conducting town hall meetings, implementing a virtual traffic court option for litigants, and hosting several community learning opportunities about the court, including Pickleball and the Courts and her annual Passion for Justice Cookout.  Judge Hayes’ most popular program is Court Officer of the Day, where young people have the opportunity to open up court, meet system people, receive a community service letter and certificate, and a photo on the bench.  Given her community engagement, Judge Hayes is known throughout Nashville as the “People’s Judge.”   She recently became the newest member of the Domestic Violence Judicial Team.

Judge Hayes enjoys karaoke, has authored devotionals, including “Exercise Your Faith” and “Be Encouraged,” and is an avid pickleball player. She is married to Arnold Hayes, and together they have five children.