Rachel Wilber is a Sonoma County native who graduated from Ursuline High school in 1994. Prior to studying law, she attended Santa Rosa Junior College and Humboldt State University, earning a Bachelor’s Degree in French after spending a year in the south of France. Rachel went on to earn a Master’s Degree in Education and a teaching credential from Mills College in Oakland. She taught English and Social studies to eighth graders for a year in the East Bay before returning to Sonoma County and enrolling at Empire College School of Law in 2005.
Rachel has dedicated her practice to criminal defense. While studying law at Empire and working two other jobs, she began clerking at the Sonoma County Public Defender’s Office. She graduated from Empire College Cum Laude in 2009, having contributed to both the Moot Court team competition and the Law Review. Since her first days in the Public Defender’s Office, Rachel knew she was where she belonged. She began practicing full time as a Deputy Public Defender as soon as she passed the Bar in 2009. During her time as a public defender, Rachel handled thousands of cases from misdemeanors to felonies with successful results, including everything from DUIs to gang related assaults to medical marijuana.
Clients have consistently expressed gratitude for her ability to empathize, her compassion, her willingness to listen, and her strength in the courtroom. Having worked closely with judges and prosecutors on a daily basis, Rachel is skilled at anticipating the judge’s view of a case, what the likely outcome will be at sentencing, negotiating the best disposition with prosecutors, and seeing the case from the eyes of potential jurors. Rachel is licensed to practice law in the State of California and is a member of the Sonoma County Bar Association and California Attorneys for Criminal Justice. When outside the courtroom, she can be found practicing yoga or jogging with her great dane.
