Amy L. Pfeiffer

Amy L. Pfeiffer is a partner practicing out of the Raleigh office of Cranfill Sumner.  She focuses her practice on the representation of employers in the Workers’ Compensation defense Practice Group.  Amy maintains an AV rating with Martindale-Hubbell, a prestigious peer review rating for attorneys.  The AV rating is a designation that is reserved for attorneys who are recognized by their peers as having both high ethical standards and legal skill.

Following law school, Amy began her legal career in North Carolina by serving as a law clerk for the Honorable John B. Lewis, Jr. of the North Carolina Court of Appeals for the calendar year January through December 1992.

After a short stint as a legislative assistant for the NC Academy of Trial Lawyers, Amy became involved in NC workers’ compensation law in 1993 when she joined the North Carolina Industrial Commission as an Agency Legal Specialist.  In 1995, Amy was made a Special Deputy Commissioner, and she was responsible for conducting administrative hearings.  She also ruled on hundreds of medical motions, reviewed thousands of compromise settlement agreements, and traveled throughout the State to talk about the workers’ compensation system to various employers and schools. In 1997, she was named a Deputy Commissioner.  Amy was a Deputy Commissioner for six years, through 2003, during which time she heard hundreds of cases and filed Opinions & Awards on these cases.

Amy left the Industrial Commission in 2003 and went to work for a year for a plaintiffs’ workers’ compensation firm.  In 2004, she came to Cranfill Sumner where she now represents defendants in workers’ compensation cases. Amy’s practice is focused solely on workers’ compensation defense. In that capacity Amy represents various carriers and employers at all levels before the NC Industrial Commission. When she is not representing clients, Amy also acts a mediator for workers’ compensation claims on a frequent basis.

Articles, Presentations, and Publications

• Amy is co-editor of the Cranfill Sumner’s Monthly Workers’ Comp E-Alert for distribution to Cranfill Sumner clients. In that capacity she is responsible for ensuring that our clients are kept up-to-date on new IC happenings, recently filed appellate court opinions, and firm news.
• Participant in Southern Rehabilitation Network’s Panel Discussion on “Communication and Collaboration of Medical Case Managers and Vocational Case Managers for Return to Work” (2016)
• “2008 Changes to Commission Procedures and Forms,” N.C. Bar Association’s The Course and Scope, Feb. 2009 edition.
• “New I.C. Forms and Procedures,” Fall CSH Educational Seminar 2008.
• Amy has spoken at a number of continuing legal education courses, seminars, and client conferences. Amy has presented a paper at the annual NC Academy of Trial Lawyers workers’ compensation CLE and was a yearly speaker at the NC Industrial Commission’s educational conference from 1996 until 2002. Amy was the co-planner of the Commission’s educational conference in 2002.  Amy participated in a panel presentation at the educational conference in 2008.
• In 2006, Amy was the co-planner of the NC Bar Association workers’ compensation section’s annual meeting and CLE.