Rachel Demarest Gold

Rachel Demarest Gold is a Partner at Abrams Fensterman LLP where she practices with the Firm’s Labor and Employment, Criminal, and Government Litigation, Law and Policy practice groups.

Ms. Gold is a subject matter expert in:

• Labor and Employment Law
• State and Federal Labor Regulations
• Criminal Labor Prosecutions
• Workforce Policy and Development Issues

She contributes regularly to both written publications and network television. Her diverse practice focuses on defending employers against State and Federal labor and employment claims, including those before:

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

In addition to her work before regulatory bodies, Ms. Gold represents employers in State and Federal Court litigation, provides training, and conducts internal complaint investigations. She also works with industry organizations to develop and promulgate their legislative agendas.

Ms. Gold started her career as a prosecutor in the Office of the Bronx District Attorney and, after a turn as an in-house counsel and working with and for the State Legislature, 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.

Amongst her responsibilities at the Labor Department, Ms. Gold oversaw all criminal enforcement divisions of the agency which included the Office of Special Investigations, the Unemployment Insurance Division, and the multi-agency Joint Enforcement Task Force. She was responsible for all agency policy as well as legislation effecting Labor Department jurisdictions. Included in her portfolio were also the intergovernmental, outreach, and public speaking operations for the Labor Department.

Ms. Gold joined Abrams Fensterman in 2016.

Ms. Gold 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.

Ms. Gold 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; and Acting State Chair and Treasurer of the New York State Women’s Equality Party.

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

Ms. Gold 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.