As an associate in the firm’s Corporate practice group, Rachel’s work is focused on employee benefits and executive compensation matters. Rachel brings a wealth of labor and employment experience to the firm, which allows her to ensure that employers and corporations are using best practices in providing retirement, health, and other benefits to their employees.
Rachel’s passion for her practice stems from her lived experiences. Though her family fortunately did not have to worry about access to quality employer-sponsored health care, her family member’s significant health issues during her childhood taught her the importance of health care; her brother was diagnosed with brain cancer when Rachel was six years old, and her father was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) when she was ten years old. These experiences made her more aware of the struggles many families face because of health care (or lack thereof), galvanizing her to devote her career to employee benefits law and policy.
Prior to joining the firm, Rachel served as an associate at a full-service law firm where she advised clients through all phases of complex litigation. While the majority of Rachel’s litigation practice focused on employee benefits disputes under ERISA and state laws, she also litigated consumer protection and environmental claims in multidistrict litigation. Rachel appeared before federal courts across the country and was recognized as a Law360 Legal Lion for her representation of the City of Seattle and contributions to the successful defense of the City’s “Improving Access to Medical Care for Hotel Employees” ordinance.
During law school, Rachel interned at the Supreme Court of the United States, preparing decisions to be published in the United States Reports. She also sought many opportunities that would expand her knowledge of labor and employment law; she interned with the United States Department of Labor, Division of Plan Benefits Security, and also held a fellowship with the AARP Foundation in which she worked on employee benefits amicus briefs submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court, Fifth Circuit, and Ninth Circuit. Rachel also worked in-house at a telecommunications union for two years where she focused on traditional labor and labor-management relations. In recognition of her commitment to labor and employment law, Rachel was awarded the ABA-Bloomberg BNA Award for Excellence in the Study of Labor and Employment Law upon her graduation from The George Washington University Law School.
Rachel takes pride in her contributions to the employee benefits legal community. She is an active member of the Employee Benefits Committee of the ABA’s Section of Labor and Employment Law, serving as a co-editor of the section’s quarterly newsletter in 2021 and supporting the section’s publication of the Bloomberg BNA Employee Benefits Law treatise. Rachel is a regular attendee of the section’s Midwinter Meeting and in 2021 she was a panelist on the “Ethics Issues and Concerns in a Pandemic” and “Retaining Diverse Talent” panels. In 2021 Rachel also spoke at the section’s ERISA Basics Conference on the “ERISA Ethical Issues and Concerns: Basics and Ethics in a Digital World” panel.
Rachel also takes an active role in the broader communities that she identifies with as a sparkplug for change. Drawing from her own experience as a first-generation Fijian American, Rachel is dedicated to advancing diversity in the legal field and fostering a sense of community within the firm. In addition to her involvement with the firm’s group for diverse associates, she mentors law students through the Washington Joint Minority Mentorship Program and co-chaired the Legal Foundation of Washington’s Third Annual Associates Campaign for Equal Justice, which funds legal aid for Washingtonians who need it. With Rachel’s help, the campaign raised $145,000 in just two weeks. Rachel was selected as a Washington Super Lawyers Rising Star in 2020 and 2021. In 2021, Rachel was appointed by the Seattle City Council to serve on the Seattle Women’s Commission which researches, analyzes, and makes recommendations to the Mayor, City Council, and City Departments on issues facing women in Seattle. In addition to serving as a commissioner, Rachel co-chairs the commission’s Government and Community Relations Subcommittee.
In her free time, Rachel enjoys catching Sounders and Mariners games, snowboarding, paddle boarding, and binge-watching Netflix docuseries with her cat Loloma Meowitz.
