We are pleased to introduce the HNBF’s 2020 Judicial Leadership awardee Judge Rodolfo A. Ruiz II. Please join us as we honor Judge Rodolfo A. Ruiz II for his outstanding achievements and his commitment to diversity and inclusion.
Judge Rodolfo “Rudy” A. Ruiz II
Judge Rodolfo “Rudy” A. Ruiz II was nominated by President Donald J. Trump on January 23, 2019 and confirmed by the United States Senate on May 2, 2019, by a vote of 90-8. He received his commission from the President on May 3, 2019.
Prior to his confirmation as a United States District Judge for the Southern District of Florida, Judge Ruiz was a Circuit Court Judge for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida from 2014 through 2019, and a Miami-Dade County Court Judge from 2012 through 2014. He was appointed to both state court positions by then-Governor Rick Scott and served in the civil and criminal divisions. During his tenure as a state court judge, Judge Ruiz served as Chair of the Florida Bar’s Civil Procedure Rules Committee. He was also appointed to the Florida Supreme Court Committee on Standard Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases and the Florida Supreme Court Standing Committee on Fairness and Diversity. Judge Ruiz was an active Florida judicial faculty member, teaching courses at the Florida College of Advanced Judicial Studies, the Florida Conference of Circuit Court Judges, and the Florida Conference of County Court Judges. He also served as the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court Liaison to Dade Legal Aid and continues to be an avid advocate for pro bono service.
Prior to taking the state court bench, Judge Ruiz was an Assistant County Attorney with the Miami-Dade County Attorney’s Office from 2009 through 2012. As an Assistant County Attorney, Judge Ruiz represented Miami-Dade County and government employees in federal and state court at both trial and appellate levels, serving as a member of the Federal Litigation, Tax & Finance, and Torts Sections. Before joining the Miami-Dade County Attorney’s Office, Judge Ruiz was an associate with White & Case L.L.P. from 2006 through 2008, where he specialized in mergers and acquisitions, asset-backed financings, and general corporate matters as a member of the firm’s Corporate Latin America practice group.
Judge Ruiz served as a law clerk to the Honorable Federico A. Moreno of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida from 2005 through 2006. He received a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Duke University and his law degree from Georgetown University, where he served as the Articles Editor for the American Criminal Law Review.
He currently serves on the Advisory Board of the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University and is a past recipient of the Justice Award from the Florida League of Prosecutors, the Honorable Theodore Klein Award from the Miami-Dade Chapter of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers, and the Paver Award from the Cuban American Bar Association.
