ISAAC RUIZ (HE/HIM/HIS), MANAGING ATTORNEY
Isaac is the founder and managing attorney of Ruiz & Smart. His mission as a lawyer is to “fight like hell for justice on behalf of real people, often against large, well-funded, and dogged opponents.”
He has helped clients recover many millions of dollars while giving thousands of hours back in service to the community.
Isaac has been in practice for 22 years. He has worked with the same legal team on his cases—with valuable additions along the way—since 2008. He is a member of various bar associations, including the Washington State Bar Association and the King County Bar Association.
Isaac has been named to the “Super Lawyers” Washington list by Thomson-Reuters every year since 2015. He has been named to the list of “Top 100” Super Lawyers in Washington from 2020 through 2022.
As a child, Isaac knew he wanted to be a lawyer from watching L.A. Law on TV.
The son of Mexican immigrants (Isaac’s dad was a farm laborer, his mom a seamstress at a Levis factory), Isaac excelled in school from a young age. Think of debate club, first chair in band, stage manager for the one-act play, student of the year, DAR good citizens award, American Legion Boys State, and you’ll get the idea. Meanwhile, Isaac also worked in farm fields after school and sold watermelons on the side of the road over summer vacations.
Growing up, Isaac’s house was next door to a convent, two doors down from his church, across the street from his elementary school, a block away from the public library, and two blocks away from his grandparents’ house. Isaac is still a big believer in small town values.
Isaac was the first person in his family to graduate from college—the University of Texas at Austin in 1996. He then went on to earn his law degree from Notre Dame Law School in 2000. There, he graded onto the Law Review and graduated magna cum laude. After law school, Isaac served as a law clerk for the Honorable Carlos F. Lucero for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in Denver from 2000 to 2002. As a younger lawyer, Isaac worked for major law firms such as Perkins Coie.
Isaac believes he and his team are doing their best work at Ruiz & Smart. If you’ve browsed this website, you already know many of the cases handled by Ruiz & Smart challenge the business practices of insurance companies. Though some consider insurance boring—and most law students leave law school without having learned much about it—the attorneys at Ruiz & Smart know that the wellbeing of individuals, families, and entire communities depends in large part on insurance companies living up to their promises and their legal responsibilities.
Although often unrecognized, there is a clear social-justice imperative to holding insurance companies accountable. The law—which is highly protective of consumers in most insurance matters—reflects this importance. For example:
In an era of housing shortages, our work has helped return many homes to a healthy, safe state.
Our work has helped get businesses—whether a medical clinic or a grocery store, for examples—back to serving the community.
Our work has helped recover significant amounts of money from insurance companies on behalf of governmental bodies, translating into major savings to the public.
Our work has also ensured, when possible, that insurance companies pay for damage caused by their policyholders to others whose lives are upended by negligence.
Isaac and the team also represent clients in important cases beyond insurance—although, to be sure, there are usually insurance companies or their close cousins, “risk pools,” lurking in the background, whether seen or unseen. Isaac and his team have successfully:
Represented women who were sexually harassed by leaders of important organizations obtain justice.
Represented a young male student sexually abused by a teacher.
Represented the victim of a surgeon who removed a wrong body part.
Challenged the design and maintenance of a large technology company’s retail store in Seattle—a structure that was hailed by many as a masterpiece but that caused significant injury to our client.
Challenged anti-transgender exclusionary policies by a large blood plasma organization.
Represented an elder customer of a local pharmacy chain who was injured by a store employee who was in pursuit of an alleged shoplifter.
Represented a police officer against an individual who shot him while the officer was on duty.
These are just a few examples, meant to illustrate the types and breadth of cases.
Isaac still believes in given back to the community. He has:
Served as commissioner and three-time co-chair of the Seattle Community Police Commission, the official community-centered accountability body first created as part of the ongoing federal consent decree.
Written and regularly updated the IFCA Book, which is the definitive guide to Washington’s Insurance Fair Conduct Act (“IFCA”) and is relied upon by many plaintiff attorneys.
Lectured regularly (Isaac has lost count) to industry groups and community on the topics of insurance law, civil rights, and police reform.
Edited and completed the bench-bar guide on LGBTQ issues, used by judges in the State of Washington.
Served as board member and president of the board of Entre Hermanos, which provides health services to members of the Latinx LGTBQ community.
Served as board member and president of the board of the QLaw Foundation, which provides free legal services to members of the LGBTQ community.
Enrolled as a member of the Washington State Association for Justice (“WSAJ”) Eagle program for 10 years and served as chair of the insurance section of the WSAJ in the past.
Notable Cases
HOMEOWNERS CLAIM AGAINST AMERICAN FAMILY. Hard-fought victory and significant settlement for an Enumclaw, Washington family, which allowed them to rebuild their classic home.
GROCERY STORE DESTRUCTION BY FIRE. State-court litigation involving grocery store in Quincy, Washington. Obtained relief that allowed the store to be rebuilt from the foundation.
FIRE ON BOAT IN SEATTLE. Represented the owner of a vessel that burned on Lake Union, against an insurance company that accused the policyholder of setting fire to her own boat. Obtained a large settlement on client’s behalf.
UNDERINSURED MOTORIST CLAIM AGAINST STATE FARM. Federal court litigation arising from a high-speed rear-end collision. Achieved favorable settlement.
MANUFACTURED HOME INSURANCE CLAIM AGAINST FOREMOST. Federal court litigation involving a significant water loss in our client’s manufactured home. Case details involved the insurer’s failure to fully investigate and its failure to provide alternative housing for the policyholder. Achieved favorable settlement.
DENIAL OF LIFE-SAVING TREATMENT BY UNIFORM MEDICAL PLAN. State court litigation obtaining determination that the law creating the Health Technology Clinical Committee as implemented was unconstitutional. Obtained life-saving implantation of a spinal cord stimulator for our client, a former judge.
REPRESENTATION OF KING COUNTY RELATING TO DEFECTS AT BRIGHTWATER PLANT. State court litigation involving a one-of-a-kind insurance policy endorsement against King County’s insurer, resulting in multimillion dollar recovery for the County.
COVENANT JUDGMENT AND BAD FAITH ACTION AGAINST FARMERS. Successfully defended a covenant judgment in Bird v. Best Plumbing at the Washington Supreme Court and brought bad faith action against Farmers. Favorable result achieved. Attorneys Will Smart and Isaac Ruiz co-counseled with Gordon Tilden Thomas & Cordell.
MAJOR WATER DAMAGE IN HIGH-END KALAMA HOME. Represented owner of a home devastated by a hot-water leak that occurred while traveling. Obtained an appraisal award of $2.8 million, which was multiples larger than the insurance company’s offer. The extracontractual bad-faith and IFCA claims were subsequently settled.
MOTORCYCLE CRASHES. One of our clients was hit by a negligent driver while riding his motorcycle, causing life-altering injuries. Achieved multi-million dollar settlement.
MAJOR INJURIES CAUSED BY SECURITY STAFF AT BARTELL. Represented elder who was knocked down while security staff at a Bartell drug store attempted to apprehend a shoplifter. Obtained favorable result for client and his wife.
POLICE OFFICER GUNSHOT INJURY. Represented police officer who was shot by a suspect. The case settled for most of the available assets of the defendant.
FOREIGN OBJECTS IN FOOD. Represented several clients in cases involving foreign bodies in food (including a nail in a Starbucks sandwich). These cases often cause major mouth injuries.
DISCRIMINATION AND SEXUAL HARASSMENT AGAINST WAFLA. Represented multiple clients in cases against wafla (Washington Farm Labor Association). The cases have involved actions by the leader of the organization.
LAWSUIT AGAINST WASHINGTON STATE BAR ASSOCIATION (WSBA). Represented employee of the bar association. The allegations involved a member of the powerful Board of Governors. The case was settled before trial.
KAISER V. CSL PLASMA. Worked on a case involving discrimination by a plasma collection facility against a transgender woman. The team obtained a favorable summary-judgment order from the federal court before the matter was resolved.
Publications and Presentations
Author, Washington’s Insurance Fair Conduct Act: Cases and Analysis, the definitive guide to Washington’s groundbreaking insurance law (2014 & 2015 Supp.). Book received positive review in the WSAJ Trial News and proved popular among lawyers on plaintiff and defense sides.
Author, Legislative History of Washington’s Insurance Fair Conduct Act, which makes available (for the first time ever) written transcripts of the House and Senate committee hearings that led to IFCA’s passage (2014).
Author and Publisher, www.IFCA.online, an online resource where lawyers and consumers can research and access IFCA’s legislative history.
Speaker, IFCA Update, Washington State Association for Justice Annual Convention (September 2021)
Co-Presenter, Courtroom Conduct—Best Tips for Overcoming Phobias and Bias Against Your LGBTQ Clients, Washington State Bar Association, Navigating the Landscape of LGBTQ Issues in the 21st Century (2018).
Presenter, Civil Rights Issues Impacting the Trans and GNC Community, King County Bar Association, Common Legal Issues and Barriers for the Trans and Gender Non-Conforming Community, Seattle, Washington (2017).
Panelist, Community Concerns and Complaints, Community Involvement and Oversight, Washington State Bar Association, A Look at People of Color: Racial Progress or a Deepening Racial Divide, Seattle, Washington (2017).
Panelist, Collective Bargaining and Police Oversight, National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE), 23rd Annual NACOLE Conference, Spokane, Washington (2017).
Presenter, UIM + IFCA: Two Acronyms that Go Together, WSAJ’s Auto Cases Seminar, Seattle, Washington (2017).
Co-Chair & Co-Presenter, Avoiding the Pitfalls of Appraisal, Washington State Association for Justice’s 38th Annual Insurance Law Seminar, Seattle, Washington, and Spokane, Washington (2016).
Co-Presenter, LGBTQ Discrimination in Public Accommodations, Washington State Bar Association’s LGBT Rights: Issues and Practice Areas (2016).
Co-Chair & Presenter, Insurance Fair Conduct Act Update, Washington State Association for Justice’s 37th Annual Insurance Law Seminar, Seattle, Washington, and Spokane, Washington (2015).
Co-Presenter, Duty or No Duty?, concerning the duty to defend in liability insurance policies, American Bar Association’s 2015 Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee CLE Seminar, Tucson, Arizona (2015).
Co-Presenter, “American Sniper”: What to Do When Good Faith Goes Bad, Puget Sound Adjusters Association’s 4th Annual Spring Symposium (2015).
Presenter, A Claimant’s View of IFCA, Washington Defense Trial Lawyers’ Annual Insurance Law Update, Seattle, Washington (2015).
Author, Lost in Translation: The Needs of Spanish Language Policyholders, published in WSAJ Trial News (2014).
Author, On the Remedial Nature of the Insurance Fair Conduct Act, published in the Gonzaga Law Review (2014).
Author, Seven Years After the Insurance Fair Conduct Act, published on the first page of the King County Bar Bulletin (2014).
Author, The Insurance Fair Conduct Act & Liability Insurance Policies, published in WSAJ Trial News (2014).
Presenter, IFCA and Bad Faith Insurance Claims, WSAJ’s Legal Staff Section (2014).
Presenter, IFCA Claims Without a Denial of Coverage, WSAJ’s 35th Annual Insurance Law Seminar: Hot Topics in Insurance Law (2013).
Co-Presenter, Insurance Fair Conduct Act: Point-Counterpoint, Washington Defense Trial Lawyers’ Annual Insurance Law Update (2013).
Author, My Letter to the Trustees of the La Feria Schools on the Handling of Jeydon Loredo’s Yearbook Photo (2013), published by the Huffington Post. The letter involved a high school principal’s decision to ban a transgender teen from appearing in a yearbook.
Author, IFCA Claims Without a Denial of Coverage, published in WSAJ Trial News (2012).