He is a former member of the Board of Trustees for the Mexican American Bar Association. Mr. Ruiz served the City of Los Angeles as a Department of Transportation Commissioner under Mayor Richard Riordan. He also served as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Harry Pregerson in the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and for the Honorable Richard A. Paez in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.