Ms. Baird is the sole attorney and owner of her firm, the Law Offices of Rachel M. Baird, with locations in Torrington, Connecticut, where she manages a practice that provides individual attention to each client in his or her time of crisis and uncertainty.

In 1992, following her graduation from Yale Law School, Ms. Baird first worked as an assistant attorney general and then as an assistant state’s attorney representing the state of Connecticut in civil and criminal matters respectively. Her background includes graduation from the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, during a six year enlistment in the United States Air Force. While in the military, Ms. Baird began her undergraduate education at the University of Maryland, European Campus, in Germany. She continued her education at the University of South Carolina when she was transferred to Shaw Air Base, in Sumter, South Carolina. After an honorable discharge from the military, Ms. Baird completed a degree in International Studies, magna cum laude, at the University of South Carolina and applied, with the encouragement of a valued professor, John Safford, to Yale Law School.

Ms. Baird’s published cases as an attorney for the state of Connecticut include, W.G. v. Senatore, 18 F.3d 60 (1994), State v. Rivera, 56 Conn.App. 182 (1999), State v. Hill, 58 Conn.App. 797 (2000), State v. Mathis, 59 Conn.App. 416 (2001), State v. Spillane, 257 Conn. 750 (2001), State v. Arroyo, 67 Conn.App. 154 (2001), State v. Vasquez, 60 Conn.App. 194 (2002), and Rivera v. Commissioner, Connecticut Department of Corrections, 70 Conn.App. 452 (2002).

Since opening her first office in Litchfield County, Connecticut, in 2001, Ms. Baird has represented individuals charged with crimes throughout Connecticut in its Part B and Part A (more serious crimes) state courts. She has filed federal civil actions against companies, agencies, and towns including The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., Rite Aid of Connecticut, Advance Auto Parts, the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles, the New Haven Board of Education, the Connecticut Board of Trustees of Community-Technical Colleges, and the Town of Westport, Friendly’s Ice Cream Corporation, and the Connecticut State Department of Public Safety.  Ms. Baird represents individuals and small businesses in civil state court litigation proceedings.

In addition to her admission to the Connecticut Bar, Ms. Baird is licensed to practice in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the District of Columbia.  She is admitted to practice in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut and the District of Massachusetts.  In 2005, the Connecticut Bar Foundation selected Ms. Baird to the James W. Cooper Fellows program which requires “demonstrated superior legal ability and devotion to the welfare of the community, state, and nation, as well as to the advancement of the legal profession.” http://cbf.ctbar.org/index_files/Page478.htm.