Rachael Cain '08

Rachael Cain ’08 currently practices construction and real estate law for an AmLaw 100 firm in New York City. Rachael is a 2017 graduate of Texas A&M School of Law and 2011 M.S. graduate of the urban planning program at University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She has worked on some of the largest commercial, residential, and mixed-use projects in New York City and the United States, including some of the most iconic skyscrapers in Manhattan; and directly represented one of the largest global developers in commercial deals across the U.S. She was formerly general counsel for Connecticut’s largest landowner and developer, and worked first-hand on zoning and leasing multiple 350K S.F. commercial developments on an eighty-acre former brownfield site. 

While at Smith, Rachael’s most formative, memorable, and enjoyable times were spent as a work-study student and two-time intern at the botanic garden, working alongside current Botanic Garden Director John Berryhill and Senior Laboratory Instructor in Biological Sciences Gaby Immerman. Along with her minor in Smith's Landscape Studies Program, Rachael's experiences at the botanic garden directly led her to pursue her M.S. in urban planning, which in turn led her to current work in "dirt" law involving zoning, land use, real estate, and construction.

Rachael is thrilled to be a part of the botanic garden again and serve on the Friends Leadership Council.