Rachel concentrates her practice on aviation regulatory matters, with a particular focus on advising clients on aviation security law and policy involving U.S. government agencies, including the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). She represents airlines, airports, aviation security vendors, and other regulated entities before TSA and CBP on administrative investigations and civil enforcement actions. She advises TSA-regulated entities on compliance with TSA security regulations as well as TSA’s Full All-Cargo Aircraft Operator Standard Security Program (FACAOSSP), Aircraft Operator Standard Security Program (AOSSP), Indirect Air Carrier Standard Security Program (IACSSP), and Foreign Air Carrier Model Security Program (MSP). As part of counseling clients on TSA compliance and enforcement matters, Rachel advises on appropriate mitigation measures that have proven to be successful in reducing liability and enhancing compliance. Rachel also advises clients on the legal and business ramifications of evolving TSA and CBP legislative and regulatory changes as well as transactional matters with an aviation security nexus.
As part of her broader aviation practice, Rachel counsels major aviation companies and entities on the increasingly complex safety and economic regulatory measures promulgated by domestic and international regulatory bodies. She also advises U.S. and foreign airlines on strategies for compliance with consumer protection and aviation safety laws implemented by the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and helps clients secure economic and code sharing authority from the DOT.
Additionally, Rachel counsels enterprises through aviation regulatory issues concerning mergers and acquisitions, licensing, and certification, and briefs clients on due diligence and other considerations associated with multimillion-dollar commercial aviation transactions. She has experience defending clients in FAA investigations and enforcement actions, including denials of airman medical certificates.
Rachel returned to Cozen O’Connor in 2019 after serving as the director of security and government affairs at American Airlines. In that role, she gained valuable hands-on security operations experience as well as a deep knowledge of security policy matters. She was also an associate attorney in the Aviation and Corporate Practice groups at an Am Law 200 law firm in Washington, D.C., where she advised high net worth individuals on FAA regulations pertaining to personal use of business aircraft and provided counsel on the regulatory landscape surrounding commercial use of unmanned aircraft systems. Prior to attending law school, Rachel was a Corporate Communications specialist at Delta Air Lines. She has also held positions at the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings, the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA), Airlines for America (A4A), and Spirit Airlines.
Rachel earned her J.D., magna cum laude, from George Mason University School of Law with a concentration in National Security Law and Policy. She received her Bachelor of Arts with high distinction, Phi Beta Kappa, in political science and organizational studies from the University of Michigan. Rachel serves as co-chair of the Scholarship Committee of the American Bar of the American Bar Association Forum on Air and Space Law and is a member of Women in Aviation International. She was named to Best Lawyers in America’s “Ones to Watch” category from 2021 to 2024, which recognizes attorneys for outstanding professional excellence in private practice in the United States. Rachel was also selected as a top 10 author as part of JD Supra’s 2021 Readers’ Choice Awards for her thought leadership on transportation legal issues in 2020. She prefers a window over an aisle seat.
Rachel has been an incredible help to our company. Her mastery of the regulations, as well as her experience managing the challenges of airline industry stakeholders, make her uniquely qualified.