Ruben I. Gonzalez

Product and Commercial Liability Litigation Experience

Ruben represents global life sciences companies, medical device manufacturers, industrial product manufacturers, and global food and nutrition companies in defending their products from product liability and commercial claims.

His experience includes:

• Defending global food and nutrition companies in state and federal court litigation against negligence, premises liability and failure to warn claims
• Defending global food and nutrition companies, energy companies and other industrial companies in fire, explosion and chemical release incidents
• Defending medical device manufacturers in multidistrict litigation (MDL) and state court litigation against negligence and strict liability claims, including design defect, manufacturing defect and failure to warn
• Leading complex e-discovery projects, from early negotiation through collection, processing and review for MDLs, internal investigations and other litigation
• Cultivating and growing knowledge and experience with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Codes and Standards, the National Electrical Code® (NEC®) and the National Electrical Safety Code® (NESC®)
• Building and nurturing a network of reliable and trusted advisors, consultants and experts in various fields, including damages, metallurgy, conspicuousness, design and engineering, fire and explosion, industrial hygiene, welding, safety, electrical, life care planning, and medical
• Collaborating with the corporate government affairs team, legal team and other professionals to prepare senior executives to testify before a committee of the United States House of Representatives regarding markets, rising consumer prices and alleged anti-competitive behavior

Faegre Drinker Design Lab

In addition to Ruben’s litigation practice, he is the director of the Faegre Drinker Design Lab and speaks and presents to audiences nationally on empathy in legal services, legal design, and visual and trial advocacy. The Faegre Drinker Design Lab, a partnership with Stanford Law School, partners with clients on design thinking and visual advocacy. The Faegre Drinker Design Lab runs design sprints for internal and external clients and stakeholders to help solve complex legal issues, and also partners with clients and stakeholders on creating and hosting visual advocacy events, seminars, training and courses to help lawyers communicate more effectively in all aspects of their jobs. Ruben offers legal design services to clients across practices and industries.

Prior Experience

Ruben worked as a summer associate, diversity fellow and law clerk with legacy firm Faegre Baker Daniels during law school. He gained additional experience as an extern for the University of Notre Dame Alliance for Catholic Education and legal intern for the Office of the General Counsel at Mondelēz International. Ruben also served as a research assistant to Nicole Stelle Garnett, the John P. Murphy Foundation Professor of Law at Notre Dame Law School. Ruben’s work included research on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and applicability to students enrolled in non-public schools. He also volunteered his time teaching street law to young people in the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center.

Prior to law school, Ruben worked as a consultant with Deloitte Consulting and BAE Systems, advising the Defense and Homeland Security departments on cost containment, program assessment and evaluation, and program management. At Deloitte, Ruben was a GovLab Fellow. As a GovLab Fellow, Ruben’s research focused on embracing and creating platforms to encourage innovation and disruptive innovation in government. Ruben also learned the benefits of design in business problems and today, incorporates what he learned at Deloitte as the director of Faegre Drinker’s Design Lab. Prior to Deloitte, Ruben also worked for Apple.

Personal Interests

In his free time, Ruben runs and skis as often as he can. He enjoys spending time outdoors and enjoys summers living the #lakelife. He still reads the print newspaper every morning and enjoys reading books on American history. Ruben also enjoys good and old-fashioned debates on federal jurisdiction. Ruben is also a proud dad of three and loves reading The Economist and Foreign Affairs to his three kiddos.