Partner

Jesse H. Ruiz is a partner in the firm's Corporate and Securities Group. He concentrates his practice in mergers and acquisitions and the representation of public and middle market companies.  Jesse is also co-chair of the firm's Diversity Committee.

Jesse has represented acquiring and target companies, shareholders and employee stock ownership plan trustees in transactions ranging in size from millions of dollars to several billion dollars, and involving entities and assets in several countries. He has also assisted clients with the purchase and sale of assets from bankruptcy estates, and also represents clients in debt offerings and venture capital financings.

Jesse has counseled clients in a number of international transactions, including counseling a Canadian client on the leveraged buyout of a dedicated Web hosting business in the United States; serving as U.S. counsel to an Indian company in the sale of its market research business in Mumbai to a British buyer; and representing an Australian company in the sale of one of its subsidiaries, one of North America’s largest welded tube companies, to one of the largest integrated steel producers in the United States.

Jesse also counsels publicly and privately held companies on: corporate finance issues; negotiation of consulting and other commercial agreements; reorganizations; corporate compliance; corporate governance issues and employment matters; and formation of business entities in the United States, Mexico and Europe. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Commonwealth Edison Company, an Exelon company.

He is also legal counsel to the 14 Illinois senators and representatives who formed the Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus and the Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus Foundation. In 2003, and again in 2009, he received the Foundation’s Leadership Award for providing legal counsel to both the Foundation and the Caucus, and assisting in the formation of both organizations.

In September 2004, Jesse was appointed Chairman of the Illinois State Board of Education by the Governor of Illinois. The Illinois State Board of Education oversees the operation of the state’s school system for 2.1 million students in grades Pre-K-12, and administers an $11.1 billion annual budget. In March, 2007, Jesse was reappointed to serve as Chairman until 2011.

In August 2005, he was appointed to the Presidential Advisory Council on Diversity in the Profession by the President of the American Bar Association. He is also Past Chairman of the Chicago Committee on Minorities in Large Law Firms, and is on the Board of Directors of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the leading Latino litigation, advocacy and educational outreach institution in the U.S.

Jesse was named an “Illinois Super Lawyer” in the area of Mergers & Acquisitions. He was also named to the Illinois Leading Lawyers Network.

He is past president of the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois and Past Chairman of the Hispanic Lawyers Scholarship Fund of Illinois. He has taught corporate law as an Adjunct Professor of Corporate Law at John Marshall Law School. He also currently serves on several other civic and charitable boards and committees.

In March 2007, El Valor, one of the country’s leading nonprofits serving the Hispanic Community, awarded Jesse their Education Excellence Award for his work to open doors for educational opportunities for everyone. In September 2005, he was selected by Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White to receive his Education Award, honoring his commitment to promoting leadership in the Hispanic community and the City of Chicago and as an individual who contributes to improving the quality of life of all Latinos in Illinois. He also received the Chicago Bar Association’s 2005 Vanguard Award as a Chicago-area lawyer who has “made the law and legal profession more accessible to and reflective of the community at-large.”

In 2003, Jesse was also profiled in the prestigious Crain’s Chicago Business list of “40 Under 40 Rising Stars in Chicago Business.” That same year, he was recognized by Chicago Lawyer magazine as one of the “40 Attorneys Under 40 in Illinois to Watch” and was selected by Chicago United to be featured in its first “Business Leaders of Color” publication, featured in the October 13, 2003 issue of Crain’s Chicago Business.

Prior to joining the firm, Jesse was a management consultant with the international consulting firm of Booz Allen & Hamilton, Inc., where he was a member of the Operations Management Group. Prior to attending law school, he was also a member of the Sales Departments of Inland Steel Company and Ryerson Coil Processing Company.

In General. Jesse received his J.D. degree from The University of Chicago Law School, where he served as an editor of the University of Chicago Law School Roundtable, and his B.A. degree in economics and business administration from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.