Member News

Abrams Fensterman, LLP, with offices in Lake Success, Brooklyn, White Plains, Albany, and Rochester, has named Rachel Demarest Gold as the new Director of its Employment Law Practice.

Ms. Gold started her career as a prosecutor in the Office of the Bronx District Attorney. After turns as in-house counsel for her family’s Brooklyn-based manufacturing business, as a lobbyist, and working for the State Legislature, she returned to prosecuting in 2007 as an Assistant Attorney General for New York State. There she led the development of a labor crimes unit built in response to then-new legislation establishing criminality in the exploitation of workers, and prosecuted theft on government contracts. When the Attorney General became Governor in 2011, Ms. Gold was appointed Special Counsel for Labor and served as the Deputy Commissioner for Legislation, Policy, and Federal Affairs at the New York State Department of Labor.

She brings these experiences to bear on servicing small business clients, helping Chambers of Commerce and other employer membership organizations shape their government priorities and initiatives, and to add strategic advice to the value AF provides to all the Firm’s clients.

"I bring to the table experiences that literally no one else has and I will continue using them to distinguish AF’s Employment Practice from any other,” explains Ms. Gold. “We handle all the usual litigation and compliance services offered by most firms, but we have unparalleled qualifications for workplace investigations, training, and regulatory agency defense.”

Ms. Gold’s diverse practice focuses on defending employers against State and Federal labor and employment claims, including those before the:

• New York State Division of Human Rights
• New York State Labor Department
• New York State Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board
• New York State Workers’ Compensation Board
• New York State Department of State
• New York City Commission on Human Rights
• S. Department of Labor
• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
• National Labor Relations Board

She is a regular contributor to media outlets, frequent public speaker, and conducts programs that provide both continuing professional education as well as essential information for Employers.

Rachel received her J.D. from Brooklyn Law School where she was President of the Student Bar Association and a Notes and Comments Editor for the Brooklyn Journal of International Law. She earned a BA in Political Science from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.

Rachel has a long history of civic service. Former positions include: President, DUMBO Neighborhood Association; Chair, Independent Neighborhood Democrats Executive Board; Member, Brooklyn Bridge Park Local Development Corporation Board; Member, Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation Board; Member, Oak Island Beach Association Board; and Acting State Chair and Treasurer of the New York State Women’s Equality Party.

She now volunteers her time as Deputy Law Chair of the Kings County Democratic County Committee, Vice Chair of the Labor and Employment Committee of the Brooklyn Bar Association, Member of the Workforce Development Committee of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, and as a Member of the Nassau County Bar Association.

Rachel is admitted to practice law in the State of New York, the Eastern District of New York, the Southern District of New York, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court.

As Ms. Gold explained, “Employers are facing burgeoning regulation at all levels of government. They need real time; real world advice from someone who has experience—who can see what they are dealing with from multiple perspectives -- and tackle each of those problems strategically-- handling it to solution. That’s what the AF Employment Law Practice has to offer its clients and I am very excited about the opportunity to realize that promise.”