Born in Durham, North Carolina, Clay earned a Bachelor of Arts degree Phi Beta Kappa from the University of North Carolina in 1969 and a Juris Doctor in 1972 from Yale Law School, where he was a classmate of future president Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton.

He was a partner and co-founder of Lewis, White & Clay, which was considered to be one of the nation's leading black-owned law firms.

[2] On March 6, 1996, President Bill Clinton nominated Clay to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit vacated by Judge Ralph B.

The United States Senate Judiciary Committee approved Clay's nomination in 1996, but the United States Senate adjourned in 1996 prior to the presidential election without taking a full confirmation vote.

Clay was unanimously confirmed by the full Senate in a voice vote on July 31, 1997, and received his commission on August 1, 1997.