There aren’t many lawyers who go head to head with Patty Hewes and stand a chance of winning. Ray Fiske (Zeljko Ivanek) failed miserably by putting a bullet in his head in Patty’s office. Claire Maddox, however, bears a lot of similarities to Patty. She is a no-nonsense corporate attorney who proves to be a worthy adversary. When casting this role, the Damages producers needed someone with a strong on-screen presence and they found it in multi award-winning actress, Marcia Gay Harden.