Ms. Rakestraw has over twenty years of experience handling litigation and regulatory disputes in private practice and as in-house counsel at a Fortune 50 company.  After serving as a law clerk to Judge Robert R. Beezer on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Ms. Rakestraw practiced law at Williams & Connolly, with an emphasis on commercial litigation.  In 2001 she joined Verizon’s in-house legal department, where she worked for seventeen years, focusing on litigation and regulatory advocacy.  As Associate General Counsel at Verizon, Ms. Rakestraw's broad docket included complex commercial litigation, contract disputes, environmental litigation, personal injury litigation, real estate disputes, regulatory litigation, advocacy, and compliance.

Ms. Rakestraw has a B.A. degree from the University of Virginia, where she graduated with distinction. Ms. Rakestraw then received her law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law, where she served on the Virginia Law Review and graduated Order of the Coif.