Jacquelyn Denise Ruffin

Jacquelyn Ruffin concentrates her practice in the areas of education law, real estate matters and business transactions. She has represented school districts in numerous real estate transactions (both acquisition and disposition) varying in value from approximately $500, to $10,000,. In this capacity, Ms. Ruffin assists the districts in complying with surplus property laws and public bidding processes. She also aids the districts with the drafting of requests for proposals; assists in the negotiation, drafting, and execution of contracts, including purchase and sale agreements, consultant contracts, development agreements, service contracts and construction contracts; prepares various requisite statutory notices; and facilitates the parties’ compliance with various state and local land use laws.

Ms. Ruffin also serves as assistant general counsel to a local school district. In this role, Ms. Ruffin is helping with the oversight of expenditures from a recently-passed $38,500, general obligation bond, including projects related to the acquisition of real property, construction of new buildings, and renovation of existing buildings. In addition to representing school districts, Ms. Ruffin has worked with other public entities, such as joint powers agencies and healthcare districts. She advises public entity clients in matters related to the Brown Act, Public Records Act, the Political Reform Act and other laws pertaining to conflicts of interest, and statements of investment policy.

Ms. Ruffin advises private clients, including nonprofit and for profit businesses, in various transactional matters. Representative matters include advice regarding business formation and dissolution, drafting governing documents, providing information about board member responsibilities, and preparing third party contracts. She also provides the firm with litigation support.

Prior to law school, she gained over a decade of experience in the nonprofit sector, including working with schools and youth programs in the Bay Area; serving with the AmeriCorps national service program in the Bay Area; working with the United Nations Development Fund for Women in West Africa and The Hague, Netherlands; and serving as a regional board member with Just Communities Central Coast, where received a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition for her community service work.

Ms. Ruffin obtained her law degree from UCLA School of Law in 2011. While in law school, she clerked at the Ventura County Public Defender’s Office, clerked with the Hualapai Tribal Court of Appeals through the UCLA Tribal Appellate Court Clinic, and externed with the Honorable Harry Pregerson, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, gaining significant research and writing experience in all jobs. She was the recipient of the Earl Warren, Ventura County Mexican American Bar Association, and Henry De Garmo scholarships.

Ms. Ruffin recently joined the board of directors for the Ventura County Bar Association (VCBA). She is the president of Black Lawyers of Ventura County, which is a section of VCBA. Ms. Ruffin also serves on the board of Women Lawyers of Ventura County (WLVC). Through WLVC and in collaboration with the local nonprofit Girls, Inc., Ms. Ruffin coordinates a program where women lawyers volunteer as youth mentors at the local juvenile justice center. Ms. Ruffin is also WLVC’s scholarship chair. Ms. Ruffin is a member of the American Bar Association and the California Council of School Attorneys. In 2014, she was included in the 40 under 40 list compiled by the Pacific Coast Business Times. The list recognizes up-and-coming business leaders in the tri-county area under the age of 40. Ms. Ruffin lives with her husband and two daughters in Ventura.