Neil Ruben
Partner
o: (203) 325-5010
nruben@fdh.com
Vcard
Neil Ruben is a go-to counsel for private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies in M&A transactions. He also represents venture and growth equity sponsors, fundless sponsors, family offices and founders in investments and financing.
Neil guides clients through every stage of the investment life cycle—from initial platform investments through add-ons, recapitalizations, restructurings and exits. His experience spans control and minority investments, growth equity transactions, convertible note financings, joint ventures, co-investments and SPV formations.
Neil regularly leads middle-market acquisitions and dispositions, including numerous add-on acquisitions in highly regulated industries, as well as transactions exceeding $1 billion. He advises portfolio companies and earlier-stage businesses on day-to-day corporate and governance matters.
Clients turn to Neil for his sophisticated transactional judgment, practical and creative advice, and responsive, hands-on approach to deal execution.
Across industries including AI, software, trade services, financial services, healthcare, staffing, hospitality, manufacturing, professional services and consumer products, Neil quickly masters each client's business and industry. Recent sponsor clients include Uplift Investors, Seaside Equity Partners, L Catterton, Gridiron Capital, and Dynamic Core Capital Partners.
Recognized by Chambers USA for Corporate/M&A in Connecticut since 2023, Neil serves as Co-Chair of the M&A Committee of the NYSBA Business Law Section and on the Section’s Executive Committee. He regularly speaks and publishes on M&A, private equity, fiduciary duty, corporate governance and other business-law topics. His scholarship has been cited by the Delaware Court of Chancery.
Honors
- Ranked in Chambers and Partners USA Corporate/M&A (Connecticut) (2023-2026)
- Named a Moffly Media Top Lawyer (Corporate Finance Mergers & Acquisitions) in Fairfield County (2026)
Associations
- American Friends of Jordan River Village Foundation (a unique overnight camp for children living with serious illnesses and special needs and part of Paul Newman’s world-wide SeriousFun Children’s Network), Board of Directors (2016 – 2022)
- American Bar Association
- New York State Bar Association
- Connecticut Bar Association
- Fairfield County Bar Association
- Vice Chair of the NYSBA Business Law Section M&A Committee (2024)
- Co-Chair of the NYSBA Business Law Section M&A Committee - 2025 to Present
- Member of Executive Committee of NYSBA Business Law Section – 2025 to Present
Publications
- “Fiduciary Duty And Drag-Along Pitfalls And Drafting Tips, Deal Points – The Newsletter of the ABA Mergers and Acquisitions Committee,” (Fall 2017) (co-authored with Austin Pendleton)
- "Duty to Creditors in Insolvency and the Zone of Insolvency: Delaware and the Alternatives," NYU Journal of Law & Business, Volume 7-1 (2010), as cited in Quadrant Structured Products Co., Ltd. v. Vertin, 102 A.3d 155 (Del. Ch. Oct 01, 2014)