Pedro A. Ramos, Philadelphia Managing Director and Former City Solicitor, to Join Blank Rome as Partner in Business Department and Principal in Government Relations Practice

“Pedro A. Ramos, Philadelphia’s Managing Director and former City Solicitor, will join Blank Rome LLP effective June 11, as a Partner in the employment, benefits and labor practice group in the Business Department, and a Principal in Blank Rome Government Relations LLC, the Firm announced today.

Mr. Ramos brings more than 15 years of public and private sector experience to the Firm. Before his appointment as City Solicitor, he practiced at another law firm, served as the Vice President and Chief of Staff to the President of the University of Pennsylvania, and was President of the Philadelphia School Board. He has also served on numerous civic and corporate governing boards.

“We are thrilled to welcome Pedro to Blank Rome and back to the private practice of law. The breadth of his experience as a lawyer and a manager in the public and private sectors is a perfect match for the Firm and our clients,” said Carl M. Buchholz, Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer. “Pedro’s tireless dedication to the law, clients and the community is inspirational and will be a great complement to the Firm.”

Mr. Ramos joined Philadelphia City government in March 2004, as City Solicitor, and was appointed Managing Director in April 2005. As Managing Director, he served as the City’s chief operating officer, responsible for overseeing 16 operating departments and offices. A hands-on manager, he directed City resources for numerous highly complex national and regional events including the Live 8 benefit concert. He also supervised the City’s emergency response to Hurricane Katrina, and the urgent repatriation of 4,200 Americans from Beirut, Lebanon through Philadelphia International Airport. Mayor John F. Street, in recognition of Mr. Ramos’ extensive experience in managing challenging situations, appointed him to co-chair the nationally recognized Emergency Preparedness Review Committee (EPRC). Since then, Ramos has led a marked transformation in the City’s emergency preparedness, planning, and response capabilities.

As City Solicitor, Mr. Ramos served as the chief legal counsel for the City, the Mayor, the City Council and all City boards and commissions; and managed a staff of more than 350 in the city’s Law Department, including 185 attorneys. He is credited with making significant improvements in the collection of delinquent taxes, with helping to resolve a labor dispute involving a high profile show visiting the City, and led the legal challenge to proposed SEPTA fare and service reductions in 2004.

Mr. Ramos also has extensive experience in education, public education and higher education. From 2002 until 2004 he served as Vice President and Chief of Staff to then University of Pennsylvania President Judith Rodin. Mr. Ramos advised the President and was responsible for the administrative oversight of independent university functions. He was also the administration’s liaison to the standing Trustee Committee on Neighborhood Initiatives, the ad hoc Committee on Diversity, and the Social Investment Subcommittee of the Investment Committee. Mr. Ramos chaired the group of vice presidents charged with implementing the President’s Neighborhood Initiatives, and drove an effort to revamp Penn’s housing assistance program. During his tenure at Penn, Mr. Ramos also co-chaired the Education Transition Team for Governor Ed Rendell.

Prior to joining Penn, Mr. Ramos engaged in private practice as a Partner at Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll LLP, a Philadelphia-based national law firm. He primarily concentrated on employee benefits, including tax, labor and fiduciary law. He handled matters relating to tax-exempt organizations, ERISA fiduciary law, and the impact of insurance company seizures, rehabilitations and liquidation on employee benefit plans, sponsors, service-providers and fiduciaries.

From 1995 to 2001, Mr. Ramos served on the Board of Education of the School District of Philadelphia and was the youngest person to be elected Vice President (1996, 1997 and 1998) and President (1999 and 2000). Mr. Ramos was very active in policy matters during his tenure on the Board. At the request of the Mayor, Mr. Ramos joined the labor negotiations with the teachers’ union in 2000. He also served as one of the City’s negotiators with the offices of Governors Ridge and Schweiker regarding school funding, and ultimately helped to forge a new state-city partnership structure and secured an increase in school funding.

Mr. Ramos has held several board positions, and currently serves on the boards of directors of the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC), the African American History Museum, and the Police Athletic League (PAL). He has served on the regional advisory boards for Mellon/PSFS and PNC. He has also served on various nonprofit boards, including the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC); the Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial; Congreso de Latinos Unidos, Inc.; the University City District Special Services District; The Philadelphia Award; Philadelphia Futures; the Hispanic Bar Association of Pennsylvania Legal Education Fund; and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Philadelphia.

Mr. Ramos has been recognized with various civic awards, including the Leon J. Obermayer Award for 2000, the annual Puerto Rican Festival’s Citizen of the Year Award for 2000, and the Philadelphia Education Fund Giving Forward Award for 2002. A survey by Leadership Philadelphia of 4,800 Philadelphians recently identified Mr. Ramos as one of the area’s top “connectors,” defined as leaders who connect for the common good.

Mr. Ramos received his law degree, cum laude, from the University of Michigan Law School and his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Ramos is an Eisenhower Exchange Fellow, with a focus on early childhood education policy in France. “

• A federal judge will decide whether to impose sanctions against the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office for its acknowledged destruction of police records in a lawsuit that accuses deputies of racially profiling countless Hispanics in immigration sweeps.
• HNBA Announces Recipients of the 2010 Top Lawyers Under Forty Awards
• Firms Launch “Buy Puerto Rican” Ad Campaign
• Maryland Court Orders State Police To Turn Over Racial Profiling Records
• Mariana Vicente Miss Puerto Rico Universe 2010
• St. Louis Hispanic Chamber Hold Insurance Information Seminar Feb. 11
• Puerto Rican doctors criticized over Haiti Facebook photos
• First Hispanic Tulare County sheriff’s captain retires after 35 years – Robert Lomelli in CA
• The head of a Latino political group credited with helping elect dozens of Latinos to offices around Massachusetts has announced she is stepping down – Giovanna Negretti, executive director of Oiste
• Melix Bonilla, the first Latino to become Lawrence Acting Deputy Chief – MA
• Venezuelan Protests: Police Fire Tear Gas At Anti-Chavez Protesters
• Award-winning broadcast journalist Manny Medrano returns to practice law full-time – KTLA-5 in Los Angeles
• NYC Police have a new second in command, and it’s the highest post ever held by a Hispanic – Rafael Pineiro
• Federal attorney general seeking to overturn Mexico City gay marriage, adoption law
• President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts – Mari Del Carmen Aponte, Nominee for Ambassador to the Republic of El Salvador, Department of State
• Fewer Mexican Americans were admitted to law schools in 2008 than in 1993
• Mexico City vows to punish twitter users who tweet location of police breath test checkpoints
• Last week Latinas made history: 1st Latina Supreme Justices in Texas & New York & 1st Latina US Attorney in Massachusetts – (truly amazing!)
• Local Latinos’ fears that illegal immigrants would face closer police scrutiny in the wake of last month’s cancellation of nearly 20,000 vehicle registrations have been unfounded – Columbus, Ohio
• In last week of 30-year career, San Jose cop saves woman’s life – Darrell Cortez, president of the California’s Latino Peace Officers’ Association