Valerie A. Johnson graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1987, and from the University’s law school, with honors, in 1994. Before entering law school, Valerie was a public school teacher. Valerie joined the firm of Patterson Harkavy in 1994, litigating cases in the areas of workers’ compensation, employment discrimination, personal injury, social security, and civil rights. In 2011 Valerie, along with Leto Copeley and Ann Groninger, formed Copeley Johnson & Groninger PLLC.
Valerie has been board certified in workers’ compensation law since the North Carolina State Bar introduced certification in the specialty area in 2000. She has taught trial advocacy at the University of North Carolina School of Law each semester since 2003 and teaches workers’ compensation law at the Wake Forest University School of Law.
Valerie has served on the Board of Directors of the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers (now North Carolina Advocates for Justice) and is the secretary of its Workers’ Compensation Executive Committee. Valerie has chaired the North Carolina State Bar’s Workers’ Compensation Legal Specialization Committee. In addition to workers’ compensation, her current areas of practice also include social security disability. In 2010, she was elected to the National Academy of Social Insurance.
Read about Valerie’s recent activities on our blog.
Areas of Practice:
- Workers’ Compensation Law
- Labor and Employment
- Social Security Disability
Certification/Specialties:
- Board Certified Specialist in Workers’ Compensation, 2000- present
Bar Admissions:
- North Carolina State Courts
- United States District Court, Eastern 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
Classes/Seminars Taught:
- Adjunct Professor, University of North Carolina School of Law, 2003-present
- Adjunct Professor, Wake Forest University School of Law, 2010-present
- 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
- 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
- Board Member, 2001-2008
- Workers’ Compensation Executive Committee, 1996-2004, 2008-present
- North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers
- North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys
- American Bar Association
- National Bar Association
- 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
Honors
- The Best Lawyers in America
- North Carolina Super Lawyers as published by Law and Politics Magazine, 2006 – 2011
- One of the Top 50 Women Lawyers, Law and Politics Magazine, 2006
- Elected to the National Academy of Social Insurance
