Alexandria V. Ruiz

• Counsel to clinical-stage curative cancer therapy company that obtained a US$51 million arbitration award in a breach of contract action following the collapse of a research collaboration.
• Represented online electronics retailer in a class action alleging unfair practices claims relating to pricing on behalf of millions of consumers who made purchases over a nearly four-year period. Successfully obtained summary judgment against one named plaintiff, and then dismissal of entire action.
• Defeated putative class action in the Central District of California against defendants, alleging that a soap manufactured by a Mexican company and distributed in the United States was falsely labeled “natural.” The Order granting the Motion Dismiss was affirmed by the Ninth Circuit.
• Defended an operator of an online consumer-lending platform in a state enforcement action alleging that loans originated through the platform by an out-of-state bank were subject to the state’s interest rate and fee regulation. 
• Represented a state-chartered bank issuing consumer credit products through various online consumer-lending platforms in various consumer protection focused state enforcement actions.

Alexandria maintains an active pro bono practice prosecuting civil rights lawsuits on behalf of Sidley’s pro bono clients. She was part of a team that received the 2019 Humanitarian Award from the ACLU of Southern California for representing a U.S. citizen who was detained by officers because of her country of origin. Additionally, she is a member of the Central District of California’s CJA trial panel and regularly defends indigent defendants in federal criminal matters.

She was also part of a team that worked alongside pro bono partner Public Counsel to obtain a preliminary injunction requiring the government to provide mental health services to a putative class of immigrant families separated upon entry into the United States. On November 6, 2019, in a groundbreaking 50-page order, Judge Kronstadt of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California granted the preliminary injunction and certified the class, requiring mental health screenings and treatment to help separated family members begin to address the severe and ongoing trauma associated with family separation. Public Counsel honored the team with its 2019 Pro Bono award in recognition of Sidley’s efforts on this matter. In October 2023, the parties entered into a settlement that will expand the families and children eligible to receive behavioral health services and fund outreach efforts to the families for years to come.

Alexandria has assisted in the following Pro Bono matters:

• Filed an amicus brief on behalf of several immigrant rights organizations, including Immigrant Legal Resource Center, Faith in the Valley, and the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice, in support of the State of California’s motion to dismiss in a federal action challenging the constitutionality of Senate Bill 29, which gives local community members input on zoning decisions regarding the placement and operation of for-profit immigration detention facilities. Argued that such detention facilities have uniquely deleterious effects on local communities and thus, are rightly subject to public oversight and accountability. 
• Represented a domestic violence survivor before the California Court of Appeals after the survivor’s husband obtained a default judgment in a family law case through “publication notice,” on the ground that she would not disclose her address to him after fleeing the marriage. Argued that proceeding by publication notice is appropriate in a domestic abuse situation, when the fleeing spouse either cannot provide her address (because she is in a domestic violence shelter) or has legitimate reasons not to provide her address.

• Member, American Bar Association
• Member, Association of Business Trial Lawyers
• Member and Deputy Regional President for Region XVIII, Hispanic National Bar Association
• 2022 Pathfinder, Leadership Council on Legal Diversity