Overview
Rene Ruiz is a Shareholder in the Firm’s Labor & Employment Department and a member of the Firm’s Board of Directors. Rene has been honing his craft as a labor & employment attorney in Miami since his admission to the Florida Bar in 2001, at the age of 23. Rene began his career at a prominent national law firm, and was mentored by John-Edward Alley, a titan in the labor law field. In 2007, Rene was first included in The Best Lawyers in America as an associate lawyer (one of the very few associate attorneys to do so in the history of the prestigious publication). The following year, he was voted into partnership at the age of 30.
Rene partners with private and public sector employers to formulate winning strategies for achieving effective labor relations and other business goals. A skilled negotiator, Rene has helped save his clients millions of dollars through collective bargaining, administrating union grievances, handling arbitrations, defending unfair labor disputes before the National Labor Relations Board and the Public Employees Relations Committee, and managing union certifications and elections. In addition, Rene trains employers on union avoidance and strike preparation, and has successfully navigated through actual and threatened strikes and other work stoppages. Rene also litigates wage and hour disputes, discrimination, retaliation, whistleblower and harassment cases, and matters arising under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Rene has amassed an impressive list of international and national clients and has achieved many notable victories on their behalf. For example, Rene has successfully negotiated numerous collective bargaining agreements for his unionized clients that were ratified by the respective labor unions without a work stoppage. These labor agreements have helped save his clients costs by expanding their management rights, restructuring pensions and other future liabilities, and attaining numerous union concessions. In addition, Rene has successfully defended the broad application of the “agricultural exemption” under the Fair Labor Standards Act by winning summary judgment collective actions challenging the application of the overtime exemption for various agricultural employees. Rene has also successfully defended numerous restaurant and retail clients throughout Florida against cases alleging barriers to disabled access.
Outside of his legal accolades, Rene co-founded the Sports Leadership Arts and Management (SLAM!) network of public charter schools with Armando Christian Perez (“Pitbull”). SLAM! serves an overwhelmingly minority and underserved student population and unlocks seemingly unattainable opportunities within the sports industry for its students by preparing them for a myriad of sports-related careers including broadcasting, sports medicine, media production, physical therapy, marketing, nutrition, entertainment, entrepreneurship and management. This has allowed Rene to develop extensive experience with the process of opening charter schools in many different states. Rene has used this expertise to successfully assist clients in navigating the regulatory procedures of differing school districts and establish new charter schools and their supporting foundations.
Rene serves as the President and Chairman of the national SLAM! network of schools, which currently has campuses in Miami, Las Vegas, Palm Beach, Orlando, Tampa, Apollo Beach, Atlanta, Miami Beach, Boca Raton, and San Antonio, serving approximately 10,000 students nation-wide. Rene also serves as the President and Chief Executive of the SLAM! Foundation, which helps direct the network’s growing list of corporate partnerships and supports the network’s current campuses, as well as the upcoming replications of its successful model in Scottsdale, Charlotte, and beyond.
With Pitbull’s dedicated support, SLAM! has garnered significant national attention through features on The Today Show, Good Morning America, The Tonight Show, the Katie Couric Show, National Public Radio, The Washington Post, ABC Nightline, and CNN, among countless others. SLAM!’s journey from “305 to Worldwide” took an important step in 2016, when it was awarded a channel on Sirius XM Satellite Radio to be produced by students of the SLAM! network, the first and only school to receive such an honor. SLAM! Radio delivers award-winning student generated and produced content every day on Sirius XM Channel 145.
While in law school, Rene interned with the Honorable Stephen T. Brown and the Honorable Ted E. Bandstra in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Rene also served on the Editorial Board of the University of Miami Law Review.
Rene is also a regular contributor to the Firm’s labor & employment blog, BeLabor the Point.
Representative Experience
- Represents a leading international sugar producer in negotiating in all labor-related matters, including negotiating collective bargaining agreements with their farm and industrial employees, handling union grievances, and defending arbitration hearings and unfair labor practice charges.
- Represents a leading national provider of food, beverage, and retail services throughout airports and service plazas in all labor matters, including collective bargaining.
- Represents an international aircraft manufacturer in negotiating collective bargaining agreements with flight simulator technicians.
- Represents a national clothing retailer with employment litigation and disability access under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
- Represents numerous local and national restaurants with disability access under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
- Represents numerous municipalities in Florida in negotiating collective bargaining agreements with members of their police and fire departments and general employees.
Professional & Community Involvement
- Sports Leadership Arts and Management (SLAM!)
- Founder, Chairman of the Board, and President, 2009-Present
- SLAM! Foundation
- Founder, Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive, President, 2013-Present
- St. Thomas University, Athletic and Sports Administration Board, 2015-2020
- Dress for Success, Men’s Advisory Board, 2015-2018
- Miami Children’s Charter School, Chairman of the Board, President, 2006-Present
- Mercy Hospital, Board of Ambassadors, 2008-2011
Recognition
- The Best Lawyers in America®, 2008-2023
- The Employment Law Issue, 2021
- Benchmark Litigation, Future Star, 2017-2022; 40 & Under Hot List, 2016-2022
- South Florida Business Journal, "40 Under 40," 2014
- Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, “40 Under 40 Outstanding Lawyers,” 2014
- Daily Business Review, "Rising Stars: Top 40 Under 40," 2013
- Florida Trend’s Legal Elite, selected for inclusion, 2006-2011
- Areas USA, Labor and Employment Counsel of the Year Award, 2013-2014
- Florida Super Lawyers, 2017-2022
- Rising Stars, 2010-2011, 2013-2016
- Law & Politics, “Florida Rising Star," 2009
Publications & Presentations
Publications:
The NLRB Joint Employer Pendulum Swings Back Again…
BeLabor the Point Blog|August 2022
Publications:
Bottom of the Ninth
BeLabor The Point Blog|February 2022
Events, Firm Announcements, In the Media, Labor & Employment News Update, Publications:
Breaking Through the Noise: Labor & Employment Issues Post-Pandemic
Stearns Weaver Miller News Program Special|June 2021
Events:
Meet the Gang Part I – NLRB Workplace Rules, What’s Up at the EEOC, Immigration Update
Stearns Weaver Miller's 29th Annual Labor and Employment Law Seminar|May 2019
Events:
Nose Out of Joint? What's the Law on Joint Employer Status?
Stearns Weaver Miller's 28th Annual Labor and Employment Law Seminar|April 2018
Publications:
Baseball’s Winter of Discontent
BeLabor The Point Blog|February 2018
Publications:
Employment Law Changes Likely Ahead
BeLabor The Point Blog|December 2016
Events:
Off The Rail Policies and Approaches That Can Help You to Stay on the Right Track
Stearns Weaver Miller's 26th Annual Labor and Employment Law Seminar|May 2016
Newsroom
Events, Firm Announcements, In the Media, Labor & Employment News Update, Publications:
Breaking Through the Noise: Labor & Employment Issues Post-Pandemic
Stearns Weaver Miller News Program Special|June 2021
Firm Announcements:
Stearns Weaver Miller Lawyers Recognized in 2021 Florida Super Lawyers
June 2021
In the Media:
Hear from Marlins, Fisher Island and EEOC leaders about post-COVID labor issues
Miami Herald|June 2021
Firm Announcements:
Stearns Weaver Miller Lawyers Recognized in 2020 Florida Super Lawyers
June 2020
Firm Announcements:
Stearns Weaver Miller Lawyers Recognized in Florida Super Lawyers 2019
June 2019
Firm Announcements:
Stearns Weaver Miller Lawyers Named Among Benchmark Litigation’s 2018 “Under 40 Hot List”
July 2018
Firm Announcements:
Stearns Weaver Miller Lawyers Recognized in Florida Super Lawyers 2018
June 2018
In the Media:
SLAM Miami Charter School Class of 2018 Becomes First Class to Achieve 100% Graduation Rate
SLAM Miami|May 2018