Kenneth I. Trujillo
Adjunct Professor of Law
Ken Trujillo is a shareholder in the Philadelphia office of Chamberlain Hrdlicka. He is an Adjunct Professor of Law at Penn Carey Law, where he has taught since 2005. Throughout his career in private practice, Mr. Trujillo has been at the cutting edge of some the most important litigation in the region and in the country, most recently serving as lead counsel defending the City of Philadelphia’s beverage tax. He has served as the City Solicitor of Philadelphia and as an Assistant U.S. Attorney. He served as a regulator as a Commissioner of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. As a business leader, Mr. Trujillo plays a major role in public and private economic development.
Mr. Trujillo began his career at Schnader and he went on to be a co-founder of Trujillo Rodriguez & Richards, LLC, a complex litigation boutique firm. Mr. Trujillo’s law practice is primarily in the areas of complex litigation in highly regulated industries with an emphasis on commercial, securities and antitrust litigation. Mr. Trujillo is frequently called on to counsel companies and nonprofits in governance issues.
As City Solicitor, Mr. Trujillo represented the Mayor, City Council and all departments, agencies and commissions of the City of Philadelphia. In addition, Mr. Trujillo sat on the Mayor’s cabinet and ran the 155-lawyer Law Department. During Mr. Trujillo’s tenure, the Law Department instituted a number of significant initiatives. For example, Mr. Trujillo created the Affirmative Litigation Unit of the Law Department. Mr. Trujillo played a principal role in the planning of the Republican National Convention, advised the Mayor in implementing the Neighborhood Transformation Initiative and represented the City in the development of the Eagles stadium and Phillies ballpark. As City Solicitor, Mr. Trujillo spearheaded and led economic development missions to Mexico. More recently, Mr. Trujillo has led trade missions to Argentina, Chile, Peru, Panama and Colombia.
Mr. Trujillo’s experience in securities litigation dates back to the Washington Public Power Supply bond default litigation in the 1980’s. Mr. Trujillo was co-lead counsel in a case against KLA Tencor involving the back dating of stock options that resulted in a $65 million settlement. Mr. Trujillo represented several Commonwealth of Pennsylvania funds in litigation arising from the funds’ purchase of Time Warner and AOL securities, which resulted in a $23 million settlement for the funds. Mr. Trujillo has an active antitrust practice. For example, Mr. Trujillo and his partners obtained a $50 million settlement as co-lead counsel in a multi-district antitrust matter involving the pricing of laser vision correction procedures. Mr. Trujillo was counsel for the City of Philadelphia in In re Hydrogen Peroxide Antitrust Litigation, No. 05-666 (E.D. Pa.). In the white-collar criminal defense area, Mr. Trujillo has represented companies and individual clients in high profile trial, post-trial, and appellate proceedings as well as in investigative phases.
Mr. Trujillo is active locally and nationally in civic and business matters. In November 2008, Mr. Trujillo was appointed to President-Elect Barack Obama’s Presidential Transition Team, where he served on the agency review team for the Securities and Exchange Commission. In 2003, Mr. Trujillo served on the Executive Committee of Governor Ed Rendell’s Transition Team as counsel and shortly thereafter, Governor Rendell appointed Mr. Trujillo to the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority, the entity that oversees the City of Philadelphia’s finances. Mr. Trujillo was a candidate for Mayor of Philadelphia in 2014. He is a Co-Chair of the 2016 Democratic National Convention Host Committee.
Mr. Trujillo served as the First Vice Chair, Secretary and Treasurer of the National Council of La Raza Board of Directors as well as on its Audit Committee. He currently serves as Chair of the Strategic Investment Fund for La Raza, Inc. board. Trujillo is the past Chair of the Board of Directors of Congreso de Latinos Unidos, Inc. and the Board of Directors of the Greater Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. In addition, Mr. Trujillo served as the Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of Health Partners, a 175,000-member health maintenance company and served on the Board of Directors of the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. He is a member of the WHYY Board of Directors.
Mr. Trujillo is a past President of the Hispanic Bar Association of Pennsylvania and board member of the Hispanic Bar Association of Pennsylvania Legal Education Fund and the Hispanic National Bar Association Board of Governors. He is a past member of the Board of Governors of the Philadelphia Bar Association and co-chair of its Federal Courts Committee. Mr. Trujillo was elected to membership in the American Law Institute. He served as a board member of the City of Philadelphia Board of Pensions and the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation and on on the Board of Trustees of the University of the Arts.
In 1997, Mr. Trujillo was named by Mayor Ed Rendell to serve as a member of the City of Philadelphia Police Corruption Task Force. In 1999, Mr. Trujillo was named one of the Philadelphia Business Journal’s “40 Under 40.” For several years, Law & Politics and the publishers of Philadelphia Magazine have named Mr. Trujillo a Philadelphia Superlawyer.
In 2005, the Mexican government presented Mr. Trujillo with the Ohtli Award, one of the highest awards given to non-Mexican citizens by the Mexican government. In May 2006, he was appointed to the board of Philadelphia 2016, the organization seeking to bring the Olympics to Philadelphia. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School and of Evangel University, which honored him as its Distinguished Alumnus in 2004.