Our People

Our People:

Mr. Enrique “Rick” Rodriguez Jr.

Rick Rodriguez is the Founder and Principal of Rodriguez & Associates Advisory Group. Mr. Rodriguez is a qualified expert in banking and real estate matters and for the past 17 years has provided a wide variety of real estate brokerage, financial advisory, consulting, litigation support and expert witness services to his clients. Since 1992, Mr. Rodriguez has been advising law firms, development companies, financial institutions and investors on standard lending practices, market rates of interest, and other business transactions which often involve tens of millions of dollars. Mr. Rodriguez is a seasoned expert witness who testifies at jury trials, bench trials, arbitration proceedings, mediation sessions and by deposition and declaration.

Mr. Rodriguez is knowledgeable of capital markets and financing transactions and, as a licensed real estate broker, procures debt and equity capital for his clients from financing sources which include banks, life insurance companies, pension funds, REIT’s and conduit lenders.

Beginning in 2006, Rodriguez and Associates went dormant as Mr. Rodriguez assumed the role of President and Chief Credit Officer for a start-up community bank located in Ventura County. Mr. Rodriguez was vetted and approved by state and federal regulators as both President and Chief Credit Officer and successfully developed and promoted an innovative business plan catered to the Hispanic community and bringing the un-banked into the mainstream banking system. Rick’s vision for the bank was well received by local businesses, politicians and the community at large. In late 2008 upon opening its doors, the bank took a new direction abandoning his vision and the benefits to the Hispanic and unbanked communities and Mr. Rodriguez, not compromising his values, returned to Rodriguez and Associates.

As part of a specialized engagement from 2000 through 2002, Mr. Rodriguez served as a Consulting Senior Facilities Executive for the Los Angeles Unified School District (“LAUSD”), responsible for three of the LAUSD’s eleven mini-districts. Mr. Rodriguez was hired to locate and acquire sites for new schools in dense urban areas such as East Los Angeles, the South East Cities and South Central Los Angeles. R&A utilized creative techniques from the private sector (such as option agreements, a land bank, joint-use agreements, and land swaps) to save the District millions of dollars in site acquisition costs. Fluent in Spanish, Mr. Rodriguez constantly interacted with the Hispanic community, and all levels of elected officials and local leaders, to designate sites for 33 schools, or 38% of the LAUSD’s 2002 new building program.

For many years, Mr. Rodriguez has served as an instructor and guest speaker for various MBA courses and conferences offered at the University of Southern California including the Lusk Center’s Program in Real Estate Finance and Development for Minority Candidates. In prior years, Mr. Rodriguez also served as a course instructor for “Real Estate Loan Originations & Workouts” and “Workouts and Bankruptcies” offered by UCLA’s Extension Center and as a guest speaker at the Clairmont Colleges, the Wharton Business Alumni Association, the Debt Restructure Roundtable and other industry groups.

Prior to founding R&A, Mr. Rodriguez was a banker for more than twenty years and worked principally for Security Pacific Bank which was acquired by Bank of America in 1992. During his tenure, Mr. Rodriguez served as a Branch Officer, Credit Review Officer, Vice President in the Corporate Banking Group, a Deputy Division Administrator/Credit Officer and Senior Vice President in charge of the Restructuring Group at Security Pacific Bank. These positions provided Mr. Rodriguez with experience in the banking and finance industries at all levels in real estate, credit administration, regulatory compliance, commercial lending, middle-market lending, corporate banking, audit and consumer finance.

Mr. Rodriguez Curriculum Vitae: pdf_iconDownload here

Ms. Jennifer L. Malaret, Esquire

Jennifer Malaret is a Principal and Managing Director of Rodriguez & Associates. Ms. Malaret’s consulting work focuses on collateral valuation, the structuring of settlement proposals, and damage analysis from both the debtor and creditor perspective. In the litigation support area, Ms. Malaret specializes in the evaluation, analysis, and condensation of civil cases which span numerous years and involve immense amounts of documentation and discovery. Having earned her J.D. degree at Loyola Law School and with the establishment of the Law Offices of Jennifer Malaret in 1997, Ms. Malaret has also served as co-counsel with several area law firms in matters which require her direct assistance with pleadings, depositions, court appearances and trial preparation.

From 1993 through 1999, Ms. Malaret served as a case study instructor and guest speaker for various undergraduate classes, MBA courses, and conferences offered by USC and UCLA’s Extension Center. From 1997 to 1999, Ms. Malaret was a semester Course Instructor for an upper level elective course entitled “Finance and Business Economics 489 - Real Estate Investment Analysis” for the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business.

Prior to joining R&A in 1992, Ms. Malaret worked as a Vice President & Team Leader for Security Pacific Bank and Bank of America where she managed workout officers and supported personnel in the administration of a non-performing real estate portfolio of land, office, hotel and residential projects in excess of $800 million. Prior to joining the Special Asset Division, she spent three years with Security Pacific Bank and Union Labor Life Insurance Company in commercial and construction loan origination and administration.

Mr. Enrique “Ricky” Rodriguez, III

Mr. Rodriguez is an Associate at Rodriguez and Associates and a part time law student at Southwestern School of Law. Mr. Rodriguez graduated from the University of Southern California in 2006 with a degree from the Marshall School of Business specializing in real estate finance. Following his graduation, Ricky worked for Wells Fargo’s Commercial Real Estate Group in Irvine, CA where as a credit analyst he underwrote and analyzed complex real estate credits for the nation’s top tier developers. Mr. Rodriguez has experience in financing large multi-million dollar projects including shopping centers, outlet malls, hotels, industrial parks, residential sub divisions and high-rise condominiums.

In 2007, Ricky went to work for his father at Banco BuenaVentura where he managed the Documentation Services Department, a unique department dedicated to bringing “un-bankable” Hispanics into the banking system. In his capacity as Vice President, Ricky forged strong relationships with community organizations, including the local Mexican consulate, hosted weekly “Immigrant Education” courses and organized community events sponsored by the bank. Additionally, Ricky developed a vision for an innovative Micro Lending program and successfully procured a federal grant through the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) fund for its development and delivery to the community.

As an associate at Rodriguez and Associates, Mr. Rodriguez adds value to the litigation support effort through analysis of discovery documents (forensic and real time), market analysis and preparation of trial exhibits and expert reports.

Mr. Rodriguez is a graduate of the California Bankers Association Graduate School for Commercial Lending and Wells Fargo’s Commercial Lending Credit Camp.

Download Ricky’s Resume: pdf_iconDownload here