Rachel N. Gonzales

Rachel Gonzales is an associate in Foulston’s litigation and employment practice group in the firm’s Kansas City office. Rachel’s practice includes employment disputes, commercial litigation, business litigation, and defense of products liability and personal injury disputes. She works at both the trial and appellate levels in state and federal courts.

In her employment practice, Rachel defends clients in all stages of litigation involving workplace harassment, discrimination, retaliation, and other employment-related lawsuits. In her broader litigation practice, Rachel serves as lead defense counsel in suits brought by individual plaintiffs, and assists with the resolution and trial of complex commercial and business disputes.

 Rachel brings a diverse range of experience to her current practice, which shapes her holistic problem-solving approach to client representation. She has served as both outside general counsel for clients on employment-related issues and as a city prosecutor at the municipal level, successfully first-chairing multiple municipal trials. She has assisted in the trial of complex commercial and probate disputes as second-chair trial counsel. Rachel began her career in family law, where she gained valuable courtroom advocacy experience serving as lead counsel in divorce proceedings and representing parents as court-appointed counsel for Child In Need of Care cases in more than 100 hearings.

Rachel is originally from northern Colorado and is a nature lover. Outside work, she enjoys traveling, exploring national parks, reading, and spending time with friends and family. She’s the oldest of her siblings and the oldest of 14 cousins.

Education

• Washburn University School of Law (J.D., Dean's Honors, 2022)
  Washburn Law Journal, Staff Writer; Federal Bar Association, Chapter President; Phi Kappa Phi Honors Society member; Washburn Law Family and Immigration Clinic, Intern; CALI Excellence for the Future Awards: Domestic Violence Law, Legal History
• University of Kansas (B.S. in Journalism, 2018)
  University Daily Kansan Opinion Columnist

Admissions

• Kansas (2022)
• U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas (2022)
• U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri (2024)
• Pro hac vice:
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan (2025)
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas (2025)

• Litigation & Disputes
• Employment & Labor

• Morris Laing Law Firm, Associate Attorney (2022-2024)
• Washburn Law Family and Immigration Clinic, Intern (2021)
• Morris Laing Law Firm, Summer Associate (2020-2021)
• Represented municipality as a city prosecutor, including successful representation in three municipal trials.
• Served as outside general counsel for clients in the automotive industry, providing representation in employment law, consumer protection, and commercial regulations matters.

2023

• Force Majeure Defenses and Ongoing Interruptions Related to the COVID-19 Pandemic; co-author
  -Kansas Trial Lawyers Association Magazine 

2025

• Reasonable or Not: Navigating the Line of Workplace Accommodations (Foulston Siefkin LLP, Employment Law Institute)