Rachel L. Brand, Chief Counsel for Regulatory Litigation
Rachel L. Brand is chief counsel for regulatory litigation for the National Chamber Litigation Center (NCLC), the litigation arm of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Brand has a wealth of government and private sector experience, with particular expertise on regulatory issues. The Washingtonian magazine named Brand among the Top 40 Lawyers Under 40, and The New York Times described Brand as a “rising star” in the legal community. She is an expert on the regulatory process, tort reform, immigration, judicial administration, and national security.
Before joining the Chamber, Brand practiced law with the international law firm of WilmerHale, where she focused on strategic public policy counseling, crisis management, and congressional investigations. She also has extensive government experience, having served as assistant attorney general for legal policy at the U.S. Department of Justice where she was chief policy adviser to the attorney general. Brand was also the department’s regulatory policy officer, overseeing a team of lawyers responsible for reviewing and approving regulations issued by the Department of Justice. In addition, she prepared Chief Justice John G. Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito for their U.S. Senate confirmation hearings. Brand was also the principal deputy assistant attorney general in the office of legal policy of the Department of Justice.
Earlier in her career, Brand served in the Office of Counsel to the President at the White House, where she advised White House staff on a wide range of legal and constitutional issues and played a key role in high-profile legal issues arising from federal agencies and departments. She negotiated interagency disputes concerning legal issues and managed the development of executive orders and other presidential documents.
During the 2002 Term of the United States Supreme Court, Brand served as law clerk to Associate Justice Anthony M. Kennedy. She also clerked for Justice Charles Fried of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts.
Prior to her government service, Brand practiced law with the firm Cooper, Carvin, and Rosenthal, in Washington, D.C. She graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School, where she served as deputy editor-in-chief of the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, and with High Distinction and Honors from the University of Minnesota.
In her personal capacity, on August 3, 2012, Brand was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as a member of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB), a bipartisan, independent agency that provides oversight and advice related to the intersection of national security, privacy, and civil liberties.