M. Reid Acree, Jr.

Reid Acree is a Board-Certified Specialist in North Carolina Workers’ Compensation Law. He has practiced workers’ compensation law for 32 of his 37 years in practice and represents injured workers exclusively in claims involving workplace injuries and occupational diseases.

Reid has particular experience in occupational disease litigation, having handled thousands of claims involving asbestos-related lung disease, cancer, and other occupational illnesses. He routinely receives referrals from attorneys throughout North Carolina and from lawyers in other states seeking assistance with North Carolina workers’ compensation matters.

He has received an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell for legal ability and ethical standards and has been recognized by Best Lawyers in North Carolina.

Reid did not begin his career representing injured workers. After graduating from Wake Forest University School of Law, he spent nearly a decade in Atlanta and Raleigh representing insurance companies and employers in insurance defense, employment, and workers’ compensation matters.

About ten years into that work, one case changed the direction of his career.

While walking to a mediation involving a seriously injured worker, Reid briefly encountered a man and his young son in the hallway. When Reid said hello to the man's son, the child hesitated.  His father gently reminded him to look someone in the eye and say hello when spoken to.  Minutes later, Reid realized that the father was the injured worker he was preparing to oppose in a mediation whose outcome would profoundly affect the man and his family.

After the mediation, Reid began questioning what he wanted his work as a lawyer to mean. Raised to believe in standing up for people who needed help, he concluded that representing insurance carriers and employers was no longer the work he wanted to spend his life doing.

In 1999, he changed sides and began representing injured workers exclusively. He has never looked back.

That decision has defined his practice ever since. Reid considers representing injured workers not simply his occupation, but his purpose. His practice is devoted to helping people facing serious injuries and occupational diseases navigate a difficult legal system and obtain the benefits to which they are entitled.

Reid received both his undergraduate and law degrees from Wake Forest University. He graduated cum laude with a degree in economics and worked in the business world for four years before returning to Wake Forest for law school. While there, he was elected to the Law Review, the Moot Court Board and the Honor Council.

After law school, Reid practiced for nearly five years in Atlanta handling product liability, insurance defense, and employment matters. He then practiced for nearly five years in Raleigh, where he developed extensive experience defending North Carolina workers’ compensation claims. That defense experience continues to inform his representation of injured workers today, giving him an understanding of how employers, insurance carriers, and their attorneys evaluate and defend claims.