Professional Biography
Image of Rachel S. Mechanic

Rachel S. Mechanic Partner

  • New York

    D +1.212.261.6811

    F +1.212.977.1649

    New York

    1155 Avenue of the Americas, 22nd Floor

    New York, NY 10036-2711

    +1.212.261.6811

    RMechanic@perkinscoie.com

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Overview

Rachel maintains a broad litigation practice representing and advising corporate clients, board committees, senior executives, and other individuals in securities enforcement proceedings, complex commercial litigations, and white-collar criminal matters. Rachel also represents law firms in professional liability disputes.

Rachel often represents clients in matters that proceed simultaneously in regulatory, white-collar defense, and civil litigation forums, including courts at the federal and state levels, arbitrations, and mediations. She also has extensive experience defending clients in investigations and enforcement proceedings conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and state attorneys general offices, among numerous other governmental and regulatory bodies. These include matters relating to alleged accounting fraud, securities fraud, sexual harassment and retaliation, and economic sanctions. 

In addition, Rachel regularly advises and represents traders and financial advisors in connection with investigations and inquiries by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) relating to allegations of spoofing, violations of the best execution requirement, suitability, and matters relating to Form U4 disclosures. She routinely defends registered representatives in FINRA arbitrations arising from customer complaints. Rachel also negotiates U5 disclosure language on behalf of clients and has successfully represented financial advisors in connection with Form U4 expungement actions.

Rachel previously served as an assistant general counsel at J.P. Morgan Chase. At J.P. Morgan, Rachel was a member of the Government Investigations and Regulatory Enforcement group, which represents the bank in connection with government and regulatory investigations and enforcement matters across all business units and geographic regions of the firm. In that role, Rachel was responsible for overseeing and managing a wide range of matters, including large-scale government investigations; responses to government and regulatory requests and subpoenas; and internal reviews of employees in connection with potential violations of the firm’s internal policies and procedures. Rachel’s in-house experience gives her particular insight into the needs of her clients, which she regularly applies in her practice in order to best serve her clients’ needs.

Rachel also maintains an active pro bono docket. This work has included representing an incarcerated client in connection with his application for post-conviction relief based on his 1999 conviction by a nonunanimous jury, as well as representing low-income women in connection with contested divorce proceedings and other family law matters. Rachel also represents pro bono clients in connection with their role as amici, including most recently representing former law enforcement chiefs and commissioners as amici in the seminal Second Amendment case before the U.S. Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of New York’s concealed carry licensing law.

Since 2019, Rachel has been named each year by Super Lawyers as a Rising Star in Civil Litigation and White Collar Criminal Defense, a distinction reserved for the top 2.5% of New York lawyers under 40.

Professional Recognition

  • Selected as a New York Rising Star by Super Lawyers Magazine, 2012, 2017, 2019 – 2023

Professional Leadership

  • Women’s White Collar Defense Association, Member

Related Employment

  • Richards Kibbe & Orbe LLP, New York, NY
  • Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, New York, NY
  • J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., New York, NY

Clerkships

  • Hon. Edgardo Ramos, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

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Bar and Court Admissions

  • New York
  • New Jersey
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

Education

  • Cornell Law School, J.D., cum laude, 2009
  • The George Washington University, B.A., magna cum laude, 2006