Rachael Ledbetter

Transitioning from prosecution to research-focused, people-centered roles. Experience as Assistant District Attorney in Nashville includes preparing cases for indictment and managing numerous conviction expungements, enabling individuals to clear criminal records and regain voting rights and access to housing, education, and employment. Skills align with research and direct support, seeking opportunities that promote justice and reform.

• Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee & the Cumberlands, Volunteer Lawyer, 2021-2022, The Volunteer Lawyers Program provides legal help to low-income families across 48 counties served by the Legal Aid Society. VLP provides critical legal assistance to secure housing, health care, safety, and financial stability for our most vulnerable neighbors.
• Junior League of Nashville, Volunteer, 2020-2023. Organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women, and improving communities through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers., Volunteering with End Slavery Tennessee to strategically combat human trafficking and slavery in our state, and promote healing for survivors. Our group has collected backpacks and school supplies for children of survivors, and purchased home goods for a survivor who recently moved into her new home.

• Tennessee Justice Center, #StopTheBlock Stories, Comment in Opposition to the TennCare Medicaid Block Grant Proposal
• Photograph published in Bill Berloni’s Broadway Tails, Heartfelt Stories of Rescued Dogs Who Became Showbiz Superstars, Page 231, The Lyons Press, 2012.

• Neon Guard Nashville, October 2021-Present
• The Neon Guard is a group of volunteer Nashville community members. We promote and facilitate the safety of marginalized communities during direct actions using resistance and nonviolent de-escalation tactics. We help with street crossings during marches, engage counter-protesters to de-escalate, and serve as a buffer between protesters and police, when requested.
• Bans Off Our Bodies: March in Defense of Abortion, Tennessee State Capitol, October 2021
• Better for All: Protect Immigrant Workers, TN Dept. of Safety and Homeland Security, Dec 2021
• Fight Back: Stop These Maps, Tennessee State Capitol, January 17, 2022
• Volunteer Lawyer, Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee & the Cumberlands, March 2021-Present
• The Volunteer Lawyers Program provides legal help to low-income families across 48 counties served by the Legal Aid Society. VLP provides critical legal assistance to secure housing, health care, safety, and financial stability for our most vulnerable neighbors.
• Junior League of Nashville, May 2020-Present
• Organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women, and improving communities through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers.
• Volunteering with End Slavery Tennessee to strategically combat human trafficking and slavery in our state, and promote healing for survivors. Our group has collected backpacks and school supplies for children of survivors, and purchased home goods for a survivor who recently moved into her new home.
• Tennessee Innocence Project, Volunteer, February 2020 - Present
• The Innocence Project is a non-profit legal organization committed to reforming the criminal legal system and to exonerating wrongly convicted people through the use of DNA testing.
• Conducted legal research to assist in a client’s case, Memphis, February 2020-May 2020
• Shining Light on Wrongful Convictions with Exoneree Anthony Ray Hinton, Nashville, Aug. 2021
• Continuing the Fight: An Evening Featuring Amanda Knox, Nashville, Nov. 2021
• Presented a TennCare Appeal case involving Spinal Muscular Atrophy to doctors and medical residents during Noon Conference at Le Bonheur Hospital, November 2019
• Presented an IEP case on Special Education and the School-to-Prison Pipeline to medical residents during Interprofessional Rounds, Le Bonheur Hospital, November 2019
• Presented a TennCare appeal case on Spinal Muscular Atrophy to doctors, medical residents, and MLP Clinic students during Interprofessional Rounds, Le Bonheur Hospital, February 2020
• Awarded the CLEA Outstanding Clinical Team Award for our zealous advocacy on behalf of a client whose terminally ill child was at risk of losing her home nursing hours provided through TennCare.
• Legal Intern, Hon. Stella L. Hargrove, Circuit Court Judge, 22nd Judicial District, May-Aug 2019
• Attended trials and hearings, assisted in legal research, met with the Judge and local attorneys daily to discuss law, completed an order for a Termination of Parental Rights. Proceedings included first-degree murder trials, termination of parental rights hearings, aggravated assault cases, DUIs, drug court, aggravated robbery, and more.