EXPERIENCE
Leslie Ruiz is an Associate with the Firm primarily focused on contract negotiations on behalf of public agencies and nonprofit organizations, labor and employment litigation, and workplace investigations. She initially joined the firm in 2011 as a legal assistant. She supported several of the firm’s partners with various facets of bargaining, including tracking parties’ positions, drafting language for proposals, taking minutes at countless bargaining tables, and conducting as-needed research for contract negotiations. She compiled and organized data for classification and compensation analyses and drafted contracts and grievance responses. Ms. Ruiz left the firm in 2016 to pursue her Juris Doctor degree at UC Hastings, College of the Law. While in law school, Ms. Ruiz clerked at the Alameda County Public Defender’s Office, Legal Aid at Work (formerly known as the Employment Law Center), and the East Bay Community Law Center. The employment law matters she worked on involved discrimination, wage claims, and general legal rights in the workplace. Ms. Ruiz passed the California Bar Exam in July of 2019 and rejoined the firm as a Law Clerk in September of 2019.