Call Us 919-240-4054
Valerie’s mission is to help injured people and working people in North Carolina. She is a native of Henderson, NC and graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill and UNC Law School, with honors. Valerie practices personal injury and workers’ compensation law.
Valerie’s second book, North Carolina Workers’ Compensation Law: A Practical Guide to Success at Every Stage of a Claim, is now in its fourth edition. Valerie has been board certified as a specialist in workers’ compensation law since 2000.
At the North Carolina Advocates for Justice, the state’s organization for plaintiffs’ lawyers, she served as the 2022-2023 President, and is currently the Immediate Past President. Valerie was appointed to the NC Bipartisan State Board of Elections by Governor Roy Cooper in March 2018. She became a member of the Board of Directors of Lawyers Mutual Liability Insurance Company of North Carolina in 2015. She is listed in The National Black Lawyers Top 100.
Valerie teaches trial advocacy at UNC Law School and has taught workers’ compensation law at the Wake Forest University School of Law. In 2021 Valerie received the Charles L. Becton Award for excellence in teaching trial advocacy.
Other lawyers have recognized Valerie’s work: she is recognized in Best Lawyers in the areas of workers’ compensation law. She was admitted to the National Academy of Social Insurance in 2011 and to the College of Workers Compensation in 2015. She has been recognized in North Carolina Lawyers Weekly as a Leader in the Law, Top Woman in the Law, and as a Top Workers’ Compensation Lawyer.
Valerie and her husband Sam for 30 years. They have two children, Alex and Sam III, and a dog named Maxie. They appeared on HGTV’s Love It or List It and had a lot of fun renovating their Durham home on TV.
- Favorite Sports Team: Tarheels
- Favorite University: UNC-Chapel Hill
- Favorite Color: Carolina Blue
- Church: Union Baptist, Durham NC
- TV Show: Love It or List it (of course)
- Movie: To Kill a Mockingbird
- Holiday: Thanksgiving
Connect with Valerie:
Read about Valerie’s recent activities on our blog and see what our clients think on our Video Testimonial and Client Testimonial.
Valerie’s Ratings:
Download Contact: V-Card
Areas of Practice:
Appointments:
- North Carolina Bipartisan Board of Elections & Ethics, March 2018 – present
Certification/Specialties:
- Board Certified Specialist in Workers’ Compensation, 2000 – present
Bar Admissions:
- North Carolina State Courts
- United States District Court, Eastern, Western, and Middle Districts of North Carolina
- United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Education:
- University of North Carolina School of Law, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 1994
Juris Doctor with Honors - University of North Carolina, B.A. in Education, 1987
Books:
- North Carolina Workers’ Compensation Law: A Practical Guide to Success at Every Stage of a Claim, Lexis Nexis, Third Edition, 2017
- The Essentials of North Carolina Workers’ Compensation Law, Lexis Nexis, 2010
Selected Classes/Seminars Taught:
- Adjunct Professor, University of North Carolina School of Law
- Adjunct Professor, Wake Forest University School of Law
- Podcasting for Lawyers, North Carolina Advocates for Justice, February 2018
- Sexual Harassment Issues, January 2018
- The Lawyer as an Employer: A Practical Common Sense Approach to Human Resources, December 2016
- Mock Trial of an Employment Case, Labor and Employment Law Conference, American Bar Association, September 2008
- Current Issues for Workers and Unions under Federal and State OSHA Laws, Union Health and Safety Workshop, AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee Union Lawyers Conference, May 2008
- Editor, The Essentials of North Carolina Workers’ Compensation Law, LexisNexis and the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers Education Foundation, Inc., 2007, 2009 and 2011
- The Interaction Between State Employee Benefits and Workers’ Compensation, Workplace Torts and Workers’ Compensation, North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers, December 1997, December 2000, January 2003, December 2004, December 2007, December 2012
- Veterans’ Administration and Champus Liens, Workplace Torts and Workers’ Compensation, North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers, January 2003
- Settlement Issues, Workers’ Compensation Roundtable, North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers, March 2002
- Police Misconduct, Civil Rights on the Cutting Edge, North Carolina Bar Association, January 2000
- National Institute for Trial Advocacy, Southeast Regional Program, Assistant Team Leader, May 2000, May 2001
- Workers’ Compensation Basics, North Carolina AFL-CIO Labor School, 1998-2003, 2005-present
- Seminar Co-Chair and Moderator, Basic Workers’ Compensation, North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers, 1998-2005
- Examining the Vocational Expert, Expert Witness Seminar, North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers, March 1997
- Union Stewards’ Guide to Workers’ Compensation, North Carolina Occupational Safety and Health Convention, August 1996
- Governmental Authority to Regulate Smoking, Health Law Bulletin No. 73, Institute of Government, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, January 1993
Professional Associations and Memberships:
- North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers/North Carolina Advocates for Justice
- Communications Vice President, 2017
- Education Vice President, 2016
- Legislative Vice President, 2015
- Board Member, 2001-2008, 2013-present
- Workers’ Compensation Section, Chairperson, 2013
- Workers’ Compensation Executive Committee, 1996-2004, 2008-present
- North Carolina Bar Association
- North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers
- American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina
- Board Member, 2000-2004
- Treasurer, 2002-2004
- AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee,
- Board of Directors 2009 – 2011
- Workers’ Injury Law & Advocacy Group
- Board Member, 2013-present
- American Association for Justice
- Lawyers Mutual Liability Insurance Company of N.C
- Board Member, 2015 – Present
- College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers
- National Academy of Social Insurance
Selected Publications
- North Carolina Workers’ Compensation: A Practical Guide to Success at Every Stage of the Claim, co-edited by Valerie Johnson.
- State Employee Benefits and Workers’ Comp: 2015 Update, by Valerie Johnson
- Top Ten Things to Remember for Practice before the Full Commission, by Valerie Johnson
Honors
- The Best Lawyers in America, 2005 – present
- North Carolina Super Lawyers as published by Law and Politics Magazine, 2006 – present
- One of the Top 50 Women Lawyers, Law and Politics Magazine, 2006, 2024
- Charles L. Becton Award from the NC Advocates for Justice
- Elected to the National Academy of Social Insurance
- NC APRI Special Award, 2014
