Rachel’s Bio
From point A to B and back around to A
I was born in Portland, Oregon but spent most of my younger years in Canada. I received an undergraduate degree from Northern Arizona University where I studied modern languages and competed as an NCAA Division I track and field athlete. I then attended Willamette University College of Law in Salem, Oregon and studied one semester of law in Quito, Ecuador, where the classes were taught in Spanish. I passed the Oregon State Bar in 1997.
Having completed my studies, I decided to take some time off and backpacked from South Africa to Zanzibar. As life would have it, during my travels I met Peter Baxter, a British national raised in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe. Upon our marriage I settled in Zimbabwe where I ran a group of businesses, mainly in the tourism industry and started a family.
In the spring of 2000, Zimbabwe began to experience severe political problems, land disputes and racial violence. By the end of 2004, fearing for our well being, Peter and I moved the family to South Africa taking refuge for a little over a year. I found South Africa an amazing country, but the sad reality is that it was too dangerous for our outdoor lifestyle; hiking in the Drakensberg Mountains or going the rugged beaches on the Wild Coast was fraught with risk. Because of the great lifestyle in Oregon we decided to move to the US in 2006.
When I returned I set up a solo practice in Molalla, Oregon where I handled a variety of cases, while focusing in on immigration law. In July 2009 I began working for the immigration law firm of Hecht and Norman LLP.
