U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
Supreme Court of the State of New York

Claudio J. DiPaolo has practiced insurance defense litigation for over 25 years. He has been the Chair of Rawle & Henderson’s Workers’ Compensation Section since 2008.  Mr. DiPaolo defends workers’ compensation matters on behalf of self-insured corporations, insurance carriers, small businesses, third-party administrators, and various governmental entities. He handles employment, commercial motor vehicle, products liability, premises liability, insurance coverage, errors & omissions, and medical malpractice matters. Mr. DiPaolo argues cases before the Commonwealth and Supreme Courts of Pennsylvania, as well as the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Judicial Department.

Mr. DiPaolo routinely provides presentations to clients throughout the country on various workers’ compensation topics including the interplay between workers’ compensation and ADA, FMLA, Title VII, and SSDI/SSI as well as recovering workers’ compensation costs through subrogation, errors & omissions, special fund reimbursements, and various other statutory credits.  He counsels clients on compliance with federal, state, and local laws involving a myriad of employment and general liability matters. His clients include large multinational companies, Fortune 500 corporations, global insurers, governmental agencies, hospital systems, nursing homes, small businesses, physicians, trucking companies and the nation’s largest restaurant chain, correctional healthcare provider, pet store retailer, internet retailer, and airline.

Mr. DiPaolo majored in Political Science and Accounting at Duquesne University.  He earned his J.D. degree from Delaware Law School.  He also studied Art History in Rome, Italy and received an Italian Language degree from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr. DiPaolo’s legal career began with an appointment to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, where he drafted hundreds of administrative law decisions involving workers’ compensation matters and assisted in the editing of Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation: Law and Practice. Prior to joining Rawle & Henderson, he was Of Counsel with a global employment law firm.

Mr. DiPaolo is admitted to practice in the states of Pennsylvania and New York, as well as the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and the State of New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Judicial Department.

Mr. DiPaolo was selected as a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 by Super Lawyers, a service of Thomson Reuters. Only the top 5% of the lawyers in Pennsylvania are chosen annually for this honor.

PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS:

Author, Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation “Fix” Leaves Many Unanswered Questions, Rawle’s Reports, Volume 23, Number 1, January 2019

Co-Author, The Retroactive Effect of Protz: Reinstatement Petitions on Benefits Modified by Independent Rating Evaluations Must Be Filed Within Three Years of the Last Payment of Compensation, Workers’ Compensation News, June 2018

Presenter, “Reducing Liability for Work-Related Injuries, Proper and Effective Claims Investigation and Workplace Safety Programs,” New York, New York, August 2017

Presenter, “Retaliatory Discharge Under the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act,” Phoenix, Arizona, February 2016

Author, Employers Beware: Limitations of Immunity Under Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act, Rawle’s Reports, August 2015

Co-Presenter, “Insurance Coverage of Workers’ Compensation Claims” Seminar, Sompo Japan Insurance Company, Charlotte, NC, August 2015

Author, Pennsylvania: Workers’ Compensation, Rawle’s Reports, Volume 15, Number 8, August 2012

Author, Workers’ Compensation Reform: Old Wine in New Bottles, New York Law Journal, March 2007