Amy Ruiz received her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in Marketing and International Economics from the University of Florida in 2000. She received her Juris Doctorate from the Florida State College of Law in 2004. While at Florida State, Ms. Ruiz was a member of the Journal of Transnational Law & Policy. She also participated in the Institute on World Legal Problems where she studied Comparative Constitutional Law at the University of Innsbruck, in Austria, with Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court Antonin Scalia. Upon graduating law school, Ms. Ruiz, a Tampa native, returned to Tampa and commenced working as an Assistant Public Defender for the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit. She worked as an Assistant Public Defender from 2004 to 2006 and handled numerous motions, hearings, non-jury trials, and jury trials. In 2006, Ms. Ruiz accepted a position as an Assistant State Attorney for the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit and served there until 2011. As a prosecutor, Ms. Ruiz handled thousands of cases ranging from misdemeanors to first degree felonies punishable by life. She litigated hundreds of motions, hearings, bench trials, and jury trials. In 2011, Ms. Ruiz accepted a position with a law firm that practiced exclusively in insurance defense. Ms. Ruiz attended mediations and motion hearings for personal injury and bodily injury cases, in addition to working extensively on Chinese Drywall Multi-District Litigation. Ms. Ruiz is licensed to practice law in both State Court and Federal Court in Florida. She is also a native Spanish speaker and is active amongst the Hispanic community in the Tampa Bay area.
