Ray T. Price | Attorney

Ray Price was born in Meridian, Mississippi, on June 11, 1966, the son of a C.P.A. and an English teacher. He was reared in the small town of Forest, Mississippi, where he attended the public school system and excelled academically and in extra-curricular activities.

Ray learned the value of hard work at an early age, beginning work in his father's office at age twelve, working on a local soybean farm at age fourteen, and working at a local poultry processing plant until he graduated from high school. From these experiences, he developed a respect and admiration for working men and women, which led to his decision to pursue a career as a trial lawyer. As he saw it, big business and the wealthy had no problem in obtaining good lawyers, but the working class were woefully under represented.

Ray chose to pursue his undergraduate education at the University of Mississippi, which he attended on an academic scholarship. He obtained a B.A. degree in Political Science, with a minor in English. He was a member of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity and the Political Science Honor Society, and was active in campus affairs. While in college, Ray continued to work during summers as a carpenter to earn extra income.

Having decided to remain in the State of Mississippi upon receiving his law degree, Ray chose to attend the University of Mississippi School of Law. While at law school, he became a founding member of the Public Interest Law Clinic, an organization founded to assist the poor in obtaining legal services. Ray served as a judicial intern for the Lafayette County Circuit Judge, beginning a long course of active involvement in trials by jury.

Upon graduation in 1991, Ray was chosen as law clerk for the Honorable Roy Noble Lee, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Mississippi. His duties were to read the complete record and transcripts of lower court rulings, do extensive legal research, and make recommendations to Chief Justice Lee and the other justices about whether the lower court ruling should be upheld or reversed. Here Ray learned irreplaceable lessons about the proper presentation of matters to the trial and appellate courts. When Chief Justice Lee retired from the Court in 1992, Ray remained with the court as a staff attorney. He served in that capacity until June of 1993, working more closely with the other Justices on procedural matters, interlocutory appeals, and criminal post-conviction relief cases.

In June of 1993, Ray entered into an office-sharing relationship with another lawyer in Hattiesburg and began assisting with and handling trials and appeals from Justice Court to Federal Court. In 1996, Ray formed a partnership with part-time Municipal Judge Johnny L. Williams, the first partnership of a black and a white attorney in the history of Hattiesburg. Their practice thrived until January of 1997, when Mr. Williams was appointed by Governor Kirk Fordice as Chancery Judge.

Since that time, Ray has maintained an extremely active trial practice as a sole practitioner. In addition to his busy civil jury trial calendar, Ray has served as Special Prosecutor by appointment of the local Circuit Court Judge in an infamous double capital murder case, and frequently assists Chancery Judges by serving in child custody and abuse cases as guardian ad litem.

Ray is committed to providing pro bono legal services to those in need. After Hurricane Katrina, Ray participated in the Orleans Parish program allowing qualified criminal defense attorneys who were not licensed in Louisiana to defend needy clients during that chaotic time. Ray obtained an acquittal for one of those clients, and he continues to handle selected pro bono cases in southern Mississippi.

Ray is active in the Mississippi Trial Lawyers Association as a member of the board of directors, and is a member of the Mississippi Bar Association, American Bar Association, and the American Association for Justice. He also serves, by appointment of the Supreme Court of Mississippi, on the Complaint Tribunal, which hears complaints of unprofessional and unethical conduct by other lawyers. His primary practice areas are personal injury, wrongful death, products liability, insurance litigation for the insured, workers compensation for the worker and criminal defense for the accused. He also is involved in other litigated cases on a case by case basis. American Association for Justice. He also serves, by appointment of the Supreme Court of Mississippi, on the Complaint Tribunal which hears complaints of unprofessional and unethical conduct by other lawyers. His primary practice areas are personal injury, wrongful death, products liability, insurance litigation for the insured, workers compensation for the worker, and criminal defense for the accused. He also is involved in other litigated cases on a case by case basis.