Clay earned his J.D. from the University of Alabama School of Law. As a law student, he served as the Executive Editor of The Journal of the Legal Profession and began gaining valuable litigation experience. He served as a judicial extern for the Honorable Chief Judge Karon O. Bowdre, and the Honorable Virginia E. Hopkins, both of the Northern District of Alabama, respectively. He participated in one of the school of law's clinical programs, providing free representation to members of the local community in various facets of civil litigation, including obtaining a default judgment in a trial involving faulty construction work following the tornado in Tuscaloosa in 2011.

While in law school, Clay was elected to the Bench and Bar Legal Honor Society, was awarded the Dean’s Community Service Award, and received the Best Paper Award in his first year Contracts class. Clay is a member of the South Carolina Bar Association, the Horry County Bar Association, the Georgetown County Bar Association, and the South Carolina Association for Justice.

Clay holds a Bachelor of Science in Bioengineering from Clemson University with a minor in Political Science. He resides in Georgetown with his golden retriever, Lee.