Attorney Profiles

Biography

Like so many other Baron & Budd attorneys, New Orleans-native Ray Turcotte grew up wanting to make a difference. And it didn’t hurt that Ray liked and was good at arguing; Ray’s grandmother had called him a “little attorney” when he was only 8 years old.

In high school, Ray had an experience that crystallized for him the type of work he was meant to do. A football teammate was accused of violating the school’s code of conduct and faced possible expulsion. Ray talked his friend through the incident and helped him organize his presentation of the facts to the school conduct review council. When he won and avoided punishment, Ray realized that his efforts had made a real difference, and he wanted that feeling again and again.

After Hurricane Katrina devastated Ray’s hometown of New Orleans, he joined the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Disaster Assistance in Fort Worth. Leading a team of attorneys, he helped individuals and businesses across the country recover from natural disasters. His team assisted people in obtaining collateral-backed loans to repair the damage to their homes and businesses. Ray’s team helped thousands of people all over the country recover from hurricanes, floods, tornados, snowstorms and other natural disasters.

“I was happy to be helping so many people, but I was frustrated by the limitations on what I could do—especially when it came to recovering insurance proceeds and settling other personal and business disputes, “says Ray. “I wanted to do something more to help the people recovering from these disasters. When I got the opportunity to join Baron & Budd to work on Chinese drywall and hurricane insurance litigation, I knew I had found the ‘something more’ I was looking for.”

Because of Ray’s close ties to New Orleans, he identifies with the struggle of his Chinese drywall clients. “Many of the people down there had just recovered from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and were now finding another disaster in the homes they had painstakingly repaired or the new homes they had purchased,” Ray says. “Working with Baron & Budd was my opportunity to help make it right.”

Ray is not all work and no play, however. He grew up playing football and played on the defensive line in college. Now, although he doesn’t fit the mold of a typical soccer player, he loves playing indoor soccer. His interest in the sport developed as a result of coaching his kids’ soccer teams.

Ray also stays involved in his community and serves as President of the Board of Directors for his neighborhood homeowners’ association