Contrary to belief and advertising, the attorney general is not Virginiaās “chief law enforcement officer” or even the state’s chief prosecutor (except in limited cases) but has a much broader job as the commonwealth’s “general and consumer counsel,” “civil rights enforcement officer” and “legal advisor.”
Claire G. GastaƱaga
Claire G. GastaƱaga has more than 50 years of
government relations, political, and legal experience at the local, state, and federal level. Currently a
partner at Dunlap Law, PLC, Claire served as the Executive Director of the ACLU of Virginia from
2012-2021. Claire has been a key player in state government, serving as Chief of Staff and Special
Counsel to the Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates and as the first woman Chief Deputy
Attorney General of Virginia. While in the Virginia AGās office, she argued cases in the Supreme
Court of the United States and in the Supreme Court of Virginia. Claire is a 2015 fellow of the Virginia
Law Foundation. The Virginia Lawyerās Weekly named her to its Lawyersā Hall of Fame in 2024 and
as the Leader in the Law in 2019. Claire served on the Virginia State Advisory Committee to the U.S.
Commission on Civil Rights from 2015-2019.