Clayland Boyden Gray is an attorney in private practice, formerly with Wilmer Cutler & Pickering, then Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr. He is now a founding partner of the DC-based law firm, Boyden Gray & Associates LLP. He is also a former American diplomat and public servant.
After graduation, Gray clerked for Supreme Court Chief JusticeEarl Warren. In 1968 he joined the firm of Wilmer Cutler & Pickering, and became a partner in 1976. Gray took a leave of absence from the firm in 1981 to serve as legal counsel for Vice President George H. W. Bush. He also served as Counsel to the Presidential Task Force on Regulatory Relief, chaired by Vice President Bush. Gray later served as Director of the Office of Transition Counsel for the Bush transition team, and as Counsel to President Bush from 1989 to 1993. During this time, Gray became one of the main architects of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments that suggested market solutions for environmental problems. He returned to Wilmer Cutler & Pickering in 1993, where his practice focused on a range of regulatory matters with an emphasis on environmental issues, including those relating to biotechnology, trade, clean air, and the management of risk. He also served as Chairman of the section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice of the American Bar Association. Gray also served as co-chairman with former Majority Leader Dick Armey of FreedomWorks. In October 2001, rumors indicated that Gray was considering running for an open US Senate seat in his native North Carolina, but he passed on the race. Former US Secretary of LaborElizabeth Dole was elected in November 2002 to replace Jesse Helms, who chose to retire, rather than seek a sixth term. Gray served on the Bush-Cheney Transition Department of Justice Advisory Committee, and as White House Counsel to US President George H. W. Bush. In 2002, he founded the Committee for Justice, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit dedicated to screening judicial and US Justice Department nominees. In January 2006, President George W. Bush gave him a recess appointment as United States Ambassador to the European Union. He took a leave of absence from the law firm of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr to accept that position. When Gray emerged as Bush's preferred candidate for the post of the US's ambassador to the EU in July 2005, the potential nomination deeply perturbed open source advocates, who viewed his ties to Microsoft with suspicion. Gray's last government position was as Special Envoy for European Affairs and Special Envoy for Eurasian Energy at the Mission of the United States to the European Union, having been nominated by United States Secretary of StateCondoleezza Rice on January 11, 2008. On March 31, the White House announced his appointment to the additional post of Special Envoy for Eurasian Energy. President H. W. Bush in 1993 awarded him the Presidential Citizens Medal. He is a member of the board of directors at the Atlantic Council, The European Institute, FreedomWorks and America Abroad Media. In addition, Gray is or was a member of the Federalist Society, Harvard University's Committee on University Development, the Board of Trustees of the Washington Scholarship Fund, St. Mark's School, and National Cathedral School.
