Baird was born as Lourdes Gillespie in Quito, Ecuador on May 12, 1935, the seventh child of Josefina Delgado and James C.

[3] After graduating high school, she went to a secretarial college before marrying businessman William T. Baird, with whom she had three children.

[3] She then returned to school and went on to receive an Associate of Arts degree from Los Angeles City College in 1971, a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1973, and a Juris Doctor from the UCLA School of Law in 1976.

[3][4] Baird was an assistant United States attorney of the Central District of California from 1977 to 1983.

She assumed senior status on May 12, 2004, retiring from active service on April 15, 2005.