Experienced listener and counselor, successful litigator and negotiator, compassionate and tenacious advocate.
I love to solve problems, especially at the intersection of criminal law, social justice, and emerging technologies. My practice focuses on high-impact litigation at the trial and appellate levels, including in the United States and New Jersey Supreme Courts. I love technology and will talk about AI all day if you let me.
At Pashman Stein Walder Hayden, I am regularly tapped for my legal analysis, commercial practicality, and creative problem-solving on complex and sensitive cases. I am an "outside the box" thinker, and principally valued for consistently bringing something new to the table.
On a pro bono basis, Rachel co-founded and co-led the Leadership Fellows Program at Seton Hall University School of Law with Professor Paula Franzese. As Volunteer Assistant Director, she has guided student projects in coordination with the District Courts of New Jersey and U.S. Attorney’s Office on the Federal prisoner reentry program (ReNew), with municipal police departments to combat the opioid crisis, with Newark clergy on pressing immigration issues, and with nonprofits on addressing human trafficking. Humanitarian law and policy remain a personal interest.
While in law school, Rachel assisted the U.S. Department of Defense in the defense of the perpetrators of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and attended multiple trial proceedings at the Military Commissions at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Her work on the use of emerging technologies on wartime evidence-gathering was used by the Department of Defense trial teams at Guantanamo, as well as submitted to the D.C. Court of Appeals in habeas proceedings, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on behalf of detainees, and published in whitepapers by the Center for Policy and Research.
Rachel is the co-author of “AI and the Young Attorney: What to Prepare for and How to Prepare,” published as the cover story of the January 2019 American Bar Association magazine Landslide.
Prior to her legal career, Rachel was a professional trumpet player based in New York City. She received her undergraduate degree with honors from The Juilliard School, and has performed, recorded, and toured with, among others, Kanye West, Jon Batiste, Diana Ross, Jethro Tull, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Verbier (Switzerland) Festival Orchestra, New World Orchestra, International Contemporary Ensemble, and various Broadway shows.