Ron was born in Marrero, Louisiana, at West Jefferson Hospital, the third of four children. His father, Tommy, taught and coached in St. Charles Parish schools for over 25 years. Ron was raised in Avondale where his father was also one of the first black men in Jefferson Parish to become successful in real estate, selling many homes in the area to families of Ron’s friends. Ron’s mother, Lucy, worked as a nurse in the maternity ward at Touro Hospital for over 25 years. Ron has three siblings: a sister, Parrie; and two brothers, Tommy and Jarred.

Ron’s parents taught him a strong work ethic from the time he was a small child. Ron first became involved in business at age 7 when he picked vegetables from the family garden and sold snap beans and okra in front of the family home. Ron was so successful at this venture that he convinced his father to expand the garden so that he could generate additional sales. His father taught Ron and his siblings the benefits of hard work, how to operate a business and how to renovate homes to rent or sell. 

As Ron was growing up, he ran track and played football in the Pop Warner football league at Kennedy Heights Playground.  He was coached in football and track by Stanley Scofield who re-enforced the value of hard work, dedication and determination, traits Ron continues to exhibit today. Ron’s patience and perseverance were further solidified during the many times that his grandfather took him fishing in Lafitte, Delacroix and other areas of the state. At an early age Ron, an avid fisherman, came to love and understand the importance of our state’s natural resources. He gained respect for the many individuals who make a living fishing, shrimping and breeding oysters. He saw first hand the critical need to restore the state’s eroding coast line.

At a very young age, Ron also demonstrated his talent for managing a business enterprise and supervising employees. His second business venture began when he was about 11 and had a paper route as many young boys do. What made Ron different than most, however, was that he then secured several additional paper routes and turned them into a small business, paying friends to fold and throw the papers and employing his brother to drive his father’s pick-up truck to deliver the papers. Even back then Ron embodied the bootstrap mentality, utilizing a practical approach in order to become self-reliant rather than waiting to have things handed to him.

The Austin siblings all had the benefit of experiencing both public and private school education. Ron initially attended L. W. Higgins High School for one year and then transferred to Archbishop Shaw High School, where he graduated. While at Shaw during the 1980's, Ron and his brothers were all standouts in football. Continuing to demonstrate his self-reliance and strong work ethic, in addition to doing his school work and playing sports, Ron managed to save money for college by working at McDonald’s and Winn-Dixie and also found the time to run one of his father’s construction crews.

After an injury ended Ron’s football career, he attended Southeastern Louisiana University where he majored in Criminal Justice. While remaining focused on his studies, Ron continued to work his way through school by acting as a dorm resident assistant and working at the Winn-Dixie in Avondale on the week-ends. Always a well-rounded young man, Ron managed to find the time to join Alpha Phi Alpha, the oldest black fraternity in the country. At the time Ron joined, the local chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha was struggling to fund its national organization service program. Ron, with the assistance of his fraternity brothers, was able to raise $10,000.00 to continue its service projects which included tutoring and mentoring young black men to realize the importance of education and take advantage of the opportunity to attend college. Ron was also a student representative on the President’s Board while at Southeastern.

Upon graduation from Southeastern, Ron went to work for the Jefferson Parish Community Development program which was responsible for painting a local Marrero public housing development. Ron enrolled in Southern Law School, during which time he clerked for the Louisiana Department of Revenue & Taxation. Also during law school, Ron participated in a clinical program where he acted as a student prosecutor in the Baker City Court. After graduating from law school, Ron married his wife, Glenetrice, with whom he has two daughters: Ashley, age 16 and Alanna, age, 11. He began his legal career with the Sacks & Smith law firm where he became involved in class action litigation, immediately providing him with the opportunity to develop his skills at complex litigation.

A couple of years later Ron joined the Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s office where, under the guidance of Paul Connick, Ron first became a juvenile and then a felony prosecutor where he prosecuted the state’s first intentional exposure to AIDS case. Ron successfully prosecuted numerous other felony cases involving murder, robbery and sexual assaults, as well as cases involving misdemeanor offenses.

Ron eventually founded his own law firm in 2001 where his skills as an environmental lawyer were immediately tested. Ron, along with several other lawyers, took on one of the largest corporations in the world, Exxon-Mobil, and obtained a record setting judgment in excess of one billion dollars in the Civil District Court of New Orleans. Ron and his co-counsel brought the suit on behalf of landowners whose property was contaminated with naturally occurring radioactive material as a result of pipe cleaning operations. In 2003 Ron moved his office from downtown New Orleans to the West Bank where he continues to enjoy a successful practice today, primarily in the areas of personal injury and environmental litigation. He employs a number of female attorneys of diverse cultural backgrounds. Ron has successfully built one of the most prosperous minority-owned law firms in Louisiana. He is a classic personification of the principle that with hard work, commitment and a belief in one’s self, anything is truly possible.

Always finding the time to help others, Ron has done pro bono work enforcing the rights of developmentally delayed individuals and, for the last ten years, has provided children with the opportunity to attend summer camp through his sponsorship at the Kennedy Heights Playground in Avondale. He also sponsored expenses for a number of AAU teams to travel throughout the country to practice and develop their athletic skills in competition.