Rachel Brill has practiced federal criminal defense for the vast majority of her legal career. She earned her law degree from Harvard Law School in 1987, after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 1984. Immediately following law school, Attorney Brill clerked for Judge José A. Fusté of the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico (1987-1988) and then for Judge Frank A. Kaufman of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland (1988-1989). Following her clerkships, she joined the FPD Office for the District of Puerto Rico. After three years there, she opened her solo private practice, the Law Offices of Rachel Brill, in 1993. For the next 30 years, Attorney Brill represented hundreds of indigent clients at all stages of federal criminal litigation, from Grand Jury investigations through petitions for writ of certiorari with the Supreme Court of the United States; she tried one capital case through the guilt and penalty phases; and she served as local counsel in more than a dozen death penalty eligible cases. Her solo practice also involved specialized civil litigation, such as §1983 causes of action, federal forfeiture claims, and prisoners' rights litigation. Attorney Brill was a member of the Criminal Justice Act (CJA) Panels for the First Circuit Court of Appeals and the District of Puerto Rico. Between 2006 and 2015, she served as a member of the District of Puerto Rico CJA Committee and as the CJA Panel Representative for the District of Puerto Rico. Attorney Brill was also appointed by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to serve, from 2006 to 2012, on the Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Criminal Rules.