Claire has spent her entire 30-year legal career with the Mid-Atlantic law firm of Kalbaugh Pfund & Messersmith (KPM LAW), which has 4 offices throughout Virginia and is headquartered in Richmond. She is the Vice President of the firm and is the managing partner of the firm’s Worker’s Compensation Practice Group. After making equity partner in 1998, the following year, Claire created the firm’s Workers’ Compensation Practice Group, which now consists of 10 dedicated workers’ compensation attorneys across Virginia.
Over the span of her career, Claire has defended thousands of workers’ compensation and general liability claims, including 75 jury trials early in her career. For over 20 years, Claire has dedicated her practice exclusively to the defense of workers’ compensation claims in Virginia, representing numerous international, national, regional, and local employers throughout Virginia.
In 2013 she helped establish the Workers’ Compensation Committee of the National Retail Restaurant Association (NRRDA) and has twice chaired that committee, actively participating since its inception. In 2014 she helped establish the Virginia Workers’ Compensation American Inn of Court and has served as the programs chair, treasurer, secretary, and President. She co-established the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Advisory Conference in 2016 which is a bi-partisan state-wide organization dedicated to the advancement of workers’ compensation practice, issues, laws, and procedural changes at the Commission. In 2020, she helped create the Workplace Matters Group of The Gavel, a national organization of industry members and defense attorneys, and is currently serving as the group’s Chairperson.
In addition to being named to the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers, Claire holds an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell and has been named multiple times to Virginia Super Lawyer, Virginia Legal Elite, Woman Leader in the Law, America’s Top 100 Attorneys, Richmond Magazine’s Top Attorneys in Virginia, Best Lawyers in America and is an ALM Top Rated Insurance Lawyer.