Clay Maitland has worked in the shipping industry since graduation from law school in 1968. Clay has been employed by International Registries, Inc. for 35 years and is now a managing partner of the company, which administers the Marshall Islands Ship Registry - the third largest registry in the world. He is President of the Trust Company of the Marshall Islands (TCMI), the statutory Maritime Administrator of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Prior to the year 2000, Clay held similar positions with regard to the maritime administration of the Republic of Liberia.

Among his other affiliations: Director of the Coast Guard Foundation; Member of the American Bureau of Shipping, and of the National Cargo Bureau; Founding Chairman of the North American Maritime Environment Protection Association (NAMEPA), Chairman of the North American Maritime Ministry Association (NAMMA) Industry Advisory Board; Member of the American Bar Association, New York City Bar Association and Maritime Law Association of the United States ; former Chairman of the National Maritime Historical Society; former Chair of the Admiralty Committee of the New York City Bar Association, and of the Committee on Intergovernmental Organizations of the Maritime Law Association of the United States (MLA). Clay has served as a delegate to the Legal Committee of the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

Clay received the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters from the State University of New York Maritime College in 2006, and was awarded the U.S. Coast Guard's Distinguished Public Service Award in 2010.