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Practice
Engaged in general litigation practice with an emphasis on
product liability, commercial litigation and complex insurance issues.
Professional Background
Admitted to practice in Pennsylvania in 1989 and West Virginia
in 2000. Also admitted to practice before the
Superior and Supreme Courts of Pennsylvania; the Superior Court of
Appeals of West Virginia; the Supreme Court of the United States;
the Third Circuit Court of Appeals; the United
States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania; and the United States District
Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Professional/Civic Activities
Member:
Allegheny County Bar Association: Bench Bar, AMRAM and Long Range Planning,
Ethics Committees; Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and American Bar Associations;
Defense
Research Institute;
American Law Firm Association: Product
Liability Practice Group Steering
Committee, Insurance Practice Group Steering Committee;
Pennsylvania Defense Institute;
Coalition of Food Industry Council;
Former Member, Board of Directors, Insurance
Women of Pittsburgh;
Board of Directors, Camp Fire, Greater Pittsburgh Council, Recipient 1994
"Blue Ribbon Award" for volunteer service;
Neighborhood Legal Services pro bono volunteer;
United Way campaign volunteer.
Education
University of Pittsburgh (B.S., 1986)
Duquesne University School of Law (J.D., 1989)
Key Speaking Engagements
-
SOCAP International Annual Conference, 2006, Toronto, Canada.
Westin Harbor Castle, "Protecting Your Call Center from
Liability and Litigation."
-
FPA Food Claims and Litigation Conference, February 2006,
"Preparing the Company Witness for a Deposition"
-
SOCAP Annual Conference, October 2005, "Risk Management Panel"
and "The Litigation Savvy Customer Care Professional"
-
Wilke-Thornton Users Conference, September 2005
-
ALFA International Insurance Law Roundtable, June 2005, "ERISA
Update"
-
SOCAP Annual Conference, October 2004,
"Drawing the Line on Consumer Error"
-
SOCAP Symposium,
April 2004, "The Defense Is In The Details: How Consumer
Affairs Impacts Product Liability Litigation"
-
NFPA Food Claims
and Litigation Conference, February 2003, "Admissibility of
Consumer Complaint Data History: How to Handle It When
It's Admitted"
-
NFPA Food Claims
and Litigation Conference, February 2002, "Potential Impact of
Big Product Liability Cases"
-
NFPA Coalition of
Food Industry Counsel 9th Annual Food Defense Conference,
September 2000, "The Rules of Discovery - Legal History and
Principles"
-
NFPA Coalition of
Food Industry Counsel 8th Annual Food Defense Conference,
October 1999, "The Hidden Danger of Electronic Communication"
-
NFPA Coalition of
Food Industry Counsel 5th Annual Food Defense Conference,
December 1996, "How to Handle Claims Made By Prisoners"
-
NFPA Coalition of
Food Industry Counsel 4th Annual Food Defense Conference,
October 1995, "Strategies for Defending Court-Ordered
Alternative Dispute Resolution"
Up Close And Personal
Born and raised near Latrobe in western Pennsylvania,
Rachelle double-majored in business and psychology at the University
of Pittsburgh before getting her law degree from Duquesne
University. She joined Meyer Darragh in 1989, practicing in the
firm's Greensburg office before moving to Pittsburgh where she
became a partner in 1995. An outstanding speaker, Rachelle is often
invited to address groups like the Coalition of Food Industry
Council, a group of lawyers representing food manufacturers like
Heinz, Kraft, Campbell Soup, and DelMonte, all of whom she's currently representing. In addition to her strong background
in products liability, Rachelle is one of the few women attorneys in the aviation defense
field. Representing an aircraft owner in a fatal crash, she successfully got the
case dismissed against her client before it ever got to the jury.
Rachelle's enthusiastic advocacy for her clients is matched by her similar
commitment to the professional and community groups in which she is involved. A former
board member of Camp Fire Girls (which merged with the Boys & Girls Club), she won
that organization's 1994 Blue Ribbon Award for Volunteer Service. For several years she
was the firm's United Way campaign coordinator. Rachelle was the chair
of the Allegheny
County (Greater Pittsburgh) Bar Association's 2000 Bench-Bar Conference, an annual retreat
of almost all local judges and many trial lawyers. This high visibility among the trial
bench has enhanced her reputation among her colleagues.
Rachelle is married to Scott Glassmith, also an attorney, and she is the mother of a young
girl. |
