Partner

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

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 served as lead counsel 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 in London; 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.

Further, Jesse is the relationship partner for a major firm client and oversees all facets of legal services provided, including those provided in contract, corporate, compliance, customs & trade, labor & employment, intellectual property, land use & zoning, litigation, real estate and regulatory matters.

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; employment matters; and the formation of business entities in the United States, Latin America and Europe. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Commonwealth Edison Company, an Exelon company.

Legislative Legal Counsel

Jesse is 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.

Education Advocacy

In May 2011, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel appointed Jesse the Vice President of the Chicago Board of Education. The Board oversees the operations of the Chicago Public Schools, the third largest school district in the nation, with over 400,000 students and a budget exceeding $5 billion.

Jesse was also appointed to the U.S. Department of Education Equity and Excellence Commission in February 2011.

The two appointments are the latest in a career of involvement in public education for Jesse.

Prior to accepting the Mayor’s appointment to the Chicago Board of Education, Jesse served as chairman of the Illinois State Board of Education. He served by appointment of the Governor of Illinois from September 2004 to May 2011. 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 billion annual budget. He had also previously served on the Chicago Public Schools Desegregation Monitoring Commission.

Hispanic Community and Other Activities

In August 2010, Jesse was appointed to the ABA Presidential Advisory Commission on Hispanic Legal Rights and Responsibilities by the President of the American Bar Association.

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

Awards and Honors

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.

In General

Prior to joining the firm, Jesse was a management consultant with the international consulting firm of Booz Allen & Hamilton, Inc. (n/k/a Booz & Company), 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.

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.