Lawyers

Richard (Ricky) L. Ray began the law business after he graduated from SMU law school in 1974. He passed the bar then and moved back home to Canton, where he grew up. In Canton he was a running back for the famous (at least in Van Zandt County!) “Unbeaten, Untied, and Unscored Upon” football team of 1964. He graduated from Texas A&M in 1968. He served two tours in Vietnam as a First Lieutenant, and received the Combat Infantry Badge, several bronze stars with valor, Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, and others. He later became the youngest County Judge in Texas.

He served as County Judge of Van Zandt County for 8 years. It was while he was the County Judge that he began to see that many people had trouble with the Social Security Administration, being denied Social Security disability benefits when they were disabled.

In 1982 he began to practice full time as an attorney. As a country lawyer, he has served his clients in many areas of the law. He participated in the first trial of the Phen-Fen drug injury case in the United States. He has experience in almost every area of the law, but concentrates in Social Security, civil litigation, personal injury, and probate and estate matters.

Victoria Ray Thatcher is a recent addition to the law firm, daughter of firm founder Richard Ray. Tory is a SMU graduate and SMU Dedman School of Law in 2005. While she was in law school, she was selected to be on the Law Review, serving as Articles Editor for the Computer Law Review and Technology Journal. Her success was due in large part to the preparatory education she received not only from the Canton schools, but also from The Hockaday School in Dallas, where she graduated in 1998. Her experience at Hockaday taught her perseverance diligence, confidence, and the importance of being prepared. She is an excellent writer and researcher, already writing briefs for the Supreme Court of Texas. She always wanted to be an attorney, just like her dad, helping people. While she may be the youngest attorney at Ray and Elliott, she brings a whole new dimension to the firm and we feel very lucky to have her.

We have three legal assistants—Kathy Johnston, Paula Landwermeyer, Christie Bonham.

Kathy Johnston has been with Mr. Ray since 1978 and was his first secretary. Kathy is the primary legal assistant who handles all social security matters. She has been doing this for almost 30 years and knows the social security administration system better than anyone else. Kathy also does a lot of the family law matters, wills, and probates. She can do anything that needs to be done.

Paula Landwermeyer handles most of the civil litigation and personal injury cases. She joined the firm in 2001.

Christy Bonham primarily works with family law cases and joined the firm only two years ago. She is the main receptionist in the Canton office.