Year after year, Ray Thomas has been nominated and selected by his peers as one of the top trial lawyers in the United States.
Ray Thomas is rated AV-Preeminent by Martindale Hubbell, the oldest and most respected peer review rating organization for lawyers. AV-Preeminent is the highest peer rating standard given to lawyers who are ranked by their peers at the highest level of professional excellence for legal expertise, communication skills and ethical standards.
Ray Thomas has been accepted as a Fellow by the International Society of Barristers. Selection as a Fellow follows a rigorous screening process involving input from judges and peers. The Society recognizes “each era’s best advocates…of exceptional talent whose qualities including integrity, honor and collegiality, embody the spirit of the true professional.”
Ray Thomas has been nominated by his peers and selected for inclusion in Best Lawyers of America, a peer review service that recognizes the top legal talent in America.
Ray Thomas is a Sustaining Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, an honor reserved for the top 1/3rd of 1% of Texas lawyers whose professional, public and private career has demonstrated outstanding dedication to the legal professional and the community. Election to the Fellows is one of the highest honors that can be bestowed upon a member of the State Bar of Texas.
Super Lawyers. Each year, Super Lawyers recognizes the top lawyers in Texas using a multiphase selection process involving peer nomination, independent research and peer evaluation. For 17 consecutive years, Ray Thomas has been selected to Super Lawyers.
Ray Thomas holds the rank of Advocate and Senior Life Fellow with the American Board of Trial Advocates, a national association of trial lawyers and judges dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the civil jury trial right provided by the Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Ray Thomas has been an invited speaker and panelist for audiences in the United States, Mexico and Central America. He has also been invited to serve on the faculty of several continuing legal education courses and seminars.
Thomas has served as a Director of the State Bar of Texas, President of the Texas Young Lawyers Association, Commissioner of the Texas Access to Justice Commission, the Executive Committee of the Litigation Council, and numerous other leadership positions. Appointed by the Texas Supreme Court, Thomas served several years on its Grievance Oversight Committee. Thomas is a speaker at continuing legal education seminars. A recognized authority on cross-border litigation, Thomas was appointed as honorary counsel to the Mexican Consulate in McAllen by the government of Mexico. In 2004, Thomas received special recognition by the Governor of Zacatecas, Mexico, for his legal work on behalf of migrant families.
Thomas has served his community through various civic organizations, such as the Vannie Cook Children’s Cancer Foundation and the Board of Governors for the Boys & Girls Club of McAllen. He’s a former President of the Club and the Chair of a Capital Campaign, which raised more than $5 million to build a new, state-of-the-art club house for underprivileged youth. Married for 33 years and an active father and grandfather, Thomas also farms Texas Pecans and breeds Wagyu and Beefmaster cattle on his family ranch in Seguin. On December 18, 2010, Thomas was ordained permanent deacon in the Roman Catholic Church serving at Our Lady of Sorrows, McAllen, Texas. He owns a Christian recording studio dedicated to helping young artists spread the Gospel through inspiring music.