Management

John H. Ruiz is the Founder of LifeWallet and has served as President and Chief Executive Officer since the company’s inception. Mr. Ruiz was named one of Lawyers of Distinction’s “2020 Power Lawyers”, for his accomplishments in healthcare law. He was also named “2019’s DBR Florida Trailblazer”, for his work in integrating data analytics into the practice of law, and for its positive impact on healthcare recoveries across the mainland U.S. and Puerto Rico. Over the course of his 30-year legal career, Mr. Ruiz has gained national recognition in class action, mass tort litigation, MDL consolidated cases, medical malpractice, products liability, personal injury, real estate, and aviation disaster cases. Recently, Mr. Ruiz led the legal strategy in the landmark victory handed down by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, in MSP Recovery Claims Series v. Ace American (11th Circuit). In addition, he has certified more than 100 class actions and led MSP’s participation in Humana v. Western Heritage (11th Cir), MSP Recovery v. Allstate (11th Cir.), and MSPA Claims 1, LLC v. Kingsway Amigo Ins. Co. (11th Cir.). Mr. Ruiz has been involved as counsel in cases that have totaled more than $20 billion in settlements. These class actions resulted in some of the largest awards in Florida against major insurance companies. In total, Mr. Ruiz has certified class actions against major car insurers in the State of Florida, resulting in the current and potential redistribution of billions of dollars in improperly paid claims spanning a period of more than 10 years. Starting as early as 1996, Mr. Ruiz filed class-action lawsuits on behalf of more than 30,000 Miami-Dade County residents against the Florida Department of Agriculture for trespassing onto the private properties of homeowners and chopping down their citrus trees without any compensation. The case was ultimately certified and the Department of Agriculture directly compensated all members of the aggrieved class. In 2001, Mr. Ruiz represented consumers in a class action lawsuit against Firestone that resulted in dozens of fatalities and thousands of serious blowouts. Mr. Ruiz was also hired as local counsel by numerous out of state law firms that had pending cases in Florida courts. The cases in aggregate settled for more than $30 million. Mr. Ruiz also represented the families of crash victims in a wrongful death suit against Chalk’s International Ocean Airway. Mr. Ruiz was the first lawyer to file a limited fund class action. The case settled for a confidential agreed amount. Mr. Ruiz is licensed to practice before the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and the Florida Supreme Court. Mr. Ruiz has a proven track record of leadership, business entrepreneurship, and IT innovation.

Frank C. Quesada is the Co-Founder of LifeWallet and has served as the Chief Legal Officer since its inception. Mr. Quesada is also a partner at MSP Recovery Law Firm. With over 15 years of healthcare and complex commercial litigation experience, Mr. Quesada oversees in-house attorneys and several nationally recognized law firms that assist the MSP Recovery Law Firm in their efforts. Additionally, he develops the company's legal strategies and spearheads execution. Notably, Mr. Quesada led the execution of federal appellate strategies in MSP cases resulting in landmark legal victories and new Medicare Secondary Payer Act precedent benefitting Medicare entities across the country. These legal victories include MSP Recovery v. Allstate (11th Circuit), MSPA Claims 1 v. Tenet (11th Circuit), MSPA Claims 1 v. Kingsway Amigo (11th Circuit), and MSP Recovery Claims Series v. Ace American (11th Circuit). Mr. Quesada currently serves on the Board of Directors of USA Water Polo, Inc.

Ricardo Rivera currently serves as Chief Operating Officer / Interim Chief Financial Officer of LifeWallet. Mr. Rivera joined the company in September 2019, and from September 2019 until July 2021, Mr. Rivera served as the Chief of Staff. Over the past 25 years Mr. Rivera has held positions as COO & CFO at various private corporations in the U.S. and internationally. Before joining MSP Recovery, Mr. Rivera was COO & CFO of Transatlantic Power Fund Management, LLC, a subsidiary of Transatlantic Power Holdings LLC. Mr. Rivera has a Master’s in Professional Accounting and a BBA in Accounting from the University of Miami.

Alexandra Plasencia currently serves as General Counsel of LifeWallet. Prior to becoming General Counsel, Ms. Plasencia served as the company’s Chief Compliance Officer and Corporate Counsel. Ms. Plasencia is a corporate and healthcare attorney who focuses her practice on complex business transactions, contracting, and healthcare and organizational compliance. Ms. Plasencia utilizes her comprehensive healthcare background to advise the company on a full spectrum of legal and regulatory business issues. Prior to her current role, Ms. Plasencia was General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for Conviva Care Solutions, a management services organization overseeing 300,000 patients, throughout 300 practices and 800 clinicians throughout Florida and Texas. In that role, Ms. Plasencia worked closely with and advised the board of directors, developed the organization’s legal strategy and oversaw legal affairs, including acquisitions, regulatory compliance & oversight, corporate governance, litigation oversight, and provider, payor, and physician contracting. Ms. Plasencia has extensive experience in managed care and full-risk arrangements. Prior to her role with Conviva, Ms. Plasencia was the General Counsel for MCCI Medical Group where she developed a legal team and oversaw the company’s legal and organizational strategy. During her tenure, Ms. Plasencia handled various multi-million dollar acquisitions, corporate financing, and successfully integrated various physician practices into MCCI. Most notably, Ms. Plasencia represented MCCI in its sale to Humana and played a pivotal role in the structure, development and creation of Conviva Care Solutions and Conviva Physician Group. Ms. Plasencia earned her Juris Doctor and MBA in 2011 from the University of Miami, where she also received her BBA from the School of Business, and is certified in healthcare compliance. Ms. Plasencia has supported and contributed her time to Kristi House, the Leadership Learning Center, Amigos for Kids, and the Friends of St. Jude.