Education
  • University of Texas at Austin, 1996
  • Notre Dame Law School, J.D., 2000, magna cum laude; Notre Dame Law Review

Bar Admissions
  • Washington, 2004

About

Isaac is the founder and managing attorney of Ruiz & Smart. He has been practicing law for over 20 years and has worked with the same legal team on his cases—with some valuable additions along the way—since 2008. 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.”

Isaac has helped clients recover many millions of dollars while giving thousands of hours back in service to the community. He is a member of various bar associations and his name has been included on Thomson Reuters’ “Super Lawyers” list in Washington state every year since 2019 and the list of “Top 100” Super Lawyers in Washington from 2020 to 2023.

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 and his mom a seamstress at a Levi’s factory), Isaac excelled in school from a young age—think 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. Meanwhile, Isaac also worked in farm fields after school and sold watermelons on the side of the road over summer vacations.

Isaac is a big believer in small-town values. Growing up, Isaac’s house was next door to a convent, two doors down from his church, across the street from his elementary school, and two blocks away from his grandparents’ house.

Isaac was the first person in his family to graduate from college and then went on to earn his law degree from Notre Dame. 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 will 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.

  • 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 example—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.

Notable Cases
  • Homeowners Claim Against American Family — Hard-fought victory and significant settlement for an Enumclaw, Washington family, allowing them to rebuild their classic home.
  • Grocery Store Destruction by Fire — State-court litigation in Quincy, Washington; obtained relief that allowed the store to be rebuilt from the foundation.
  • Fire on Boat in Seattle — Represented owner of a vessel that burned on Lake Union; obtained a large settlement after insurer accused policyholder of arson.
  • Underinsured Motorist Claim Against State Farm — Federal litigation from a high-speed rear-end collision; achieved favorable settlement.
  • Manufactured Home Insurance Claim Against Foremost — Federal litigation over significant water loss and failures to investigate/provide housing; favorable settlement.
  • Denial of Life-Saving Treatment by Uniform Medical Plan — Court determined HTCC implementation unconstitutional; secured life-saving spinal cord stimulator for client.
  • King County & Brightwater Plant Defects — Unique policy endorsement; multimillion-dollar recovery for the County.
  • Covenant Judgment & Bad Faith Against Farmers — Defended covenant judgment in Bird v. Best Plumbing (WA Supreme Court) and pursued bad faith; favorable result.
  • Major Water Damage in High-End Kalama Home — $2.8M appraisal award, multiples over insurer’s offer; extracontractual claims later settled.
  • Motorcycle Crashes — Multi-million-dollar settlement for client with life-altering injuries.
  • Injuries Caused by Security Staff at Bartell — Favorable result for elder knocked down during attempted shoplifter apprehension.
  • Police Officer Gunshot Injury — Settled for most of defendant’s available assets.
  • Foreign Objects in Food — Represented clients (e.g., nail in Starbucks sandwich) for mouth-injury cases.
  • Discrimination & Sexual Harassment Against wafla — Multiple cases involving conduct by the organization’s leader.
  • Lawsuit Against Washington State Bar Association — Represented WSBA employee; settled pre-trial.
  • Kaiser v. CSL Plasma — Discrimination case involving a transgender woman; favorable federal summary-judgment order before resolution.
Publications & Presentations
  • Speaker, IFCA on Trial, Washington State Association for Justice, Seattle, WA (December 2024)
  • Author, Chapter 8: Discovery, Insurance Law Deskbook, Washington State Association for Justice (2022)
  • 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, 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, “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)
Recognitions & Awards
  • Super Lawyers, 2015–2025
  • “Top 100” Super Lawyers in Washington, 2020–2023
Professional & Civic Involvement
  • Commissioner and three-time co-chair, Seattle Community Police Commission.
  • 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.