Rachel Tuchman is a senior associate at Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP.
Rachel was one of the original associates at KHF, where she specializes in representing clients in significant and sensitive matters, including complex civil litigation and investigations pertaining to gender discrimination, #MeToo issues, and Title VII and Title IX litigation in education and workplace settings.
Rachel has been the lead associate on advising both a large media corporation and a financial institution on the creation and implementation of human resource policies to help ensure a fair and unbiased workplace, and led the associate team on KHF’s representation of an Ivy League University in multiple Title IX lawsuits that successfully settled in mediation. Rachel has gained expertise in guiding organizations through internal investigations; developing internal and external communications strategies, including providing advice on publicity; reviewing compliance structures to identify other areas of risk; and revamping policies, procedures, and practices to ensure that, to the extent applicable, issues that may have contributed to a crisis do not recur.
Rachel regularly advises clients regarding complex #MeToo matters with sensitive publicity elements, whether plaintiffs, defendants, or pre-litigation. She has worked for high-profile individual clients, including being the lead associate on a defamation lawsuit representing a woman sued by Brett Ratner, famed Hollywood producer, for speaking out and sharing her #MeToo story. Rachel also represented an individual sharing her #MeToo story regarding former New York Attorney General Schneiderman. Rachel’s representation of several former players in the National Women’s Soccer League who came forward about widespread sexual harassment and abuse in the league led to multiple investigations, including Sally Yates’s independent investigation on behalf of the U.S. Soccer Federation.
Rachel is thrilled to work on significant public interest matters at KHF. Rachel represented constitutional law scholars as amicus curiae opposing Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban before the Supreme Court. Rachel was part of the legal team that successfully represented writer E. Jean Carroll in her sexual battery and defamation suit against Donald Trump, securing a $5 million jury verdict on her behalf after under three hours of deliberations.
Rachel currently serves on the Sex and Law Committee of the New York City Bar Association. Rachel clerked for the Honorable Nicholas G. Garaufis of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York and the Honorable Susan L. Carney of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Before joining KHF, Rachel worked on a range of significant public interest litigation matters. As a legal fellow for the Campaign for Southern Equality, Rachel collaborated closely with Robbie Kaplan on groundbreaking LGBT litigation in the South. Rachel is a graduate of Yale Law School, where as a member of the Yale Veterans Legal Service Clinic, she argued in the Federal Circuit to advocate for sexual assault survivors in the military and represented a veterans group seeking to protect veterans against predatory for-profit colleges. Through fellowships with the ACLU and the Information Society Project, she crafted both constitutional and statutory arguments and has devoted significant energy to working on some of the most pressing challenges on the forefront of Title IX regulation and enforcement. Rachel has also completed cutting-edge legal research with thought leaders including Reva Siegel and Linda Greenhouse regarding advances in litigation on reproductive justice and LGBT rights. Rachel is a graduate of Yale Law School and Amherst College. Prior to becoming a lawyer, she taught as a first grade teacher in New York City.
Select Publications
- Co-author, “Employers Should Prep for EEOC’s New Workplace Harassment Rules,” Bloomberg Law (2023)
- Co-author, “N.Y. Adult Survivors Act Renews Claims for Sexual Assault Survivors,” Bloomberg Law (2022)
- Co-author, “Judiciary Employees Need Parental Leave, Too,” Bloomberg Law (2022)
- Co-author, “Litigation Will Explode With the Ban of #MeToo Forced Arbitration,” Bloomberg Law (2022)
- “#MeToo Claims Will Fare Well In Court Post-COVID,” Law360 (2021)
- Co-author, “Implementing Lasting Changes for Gender Equality in the Workplace,” Bloomberg Law (2020)
- Co-author, "#TimesUp During Covid-19—Private Sector’s Role in Mitigating Gender Equality Crisis,” Bloomberg Law (2020)
- Co-author, “#TimesUp for companies to strengthen equity and anti-harassment policies,” Crain's New York Business (2018)
