Education
Born in Mason, Nevada, Judge Reed attended public school in Reno.
Born in Mason, Nevada, Judge Reed attended public school in Reno.
He was captured by German soldiers and imprisoned during the final year of the war. After the German surrender Judge Reed was transferred to the Philippines along with the rest of 86th Infantry Division which was part of the force planned for the invasion of Japan when the war ended with the Japanese surrender. Following his military service, he received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Nevada in 1949, and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1952.
He then became a tax attorney for Arthur Andersen & Company, in Boston, Massachusetts, from 1952 to 1953, and was in private legal practice in Reno, Nevada from 1953 to 1979.
Reed served as a Special Deputy Attorney General for water rights litigation in Nevada from 1967 to 1979. In 1979, Reed was nominated by President Jimmy Carter to fill a new judicial seat in the United States District Court for the District of Nevada.
He was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 25, 1979, and received his commission on September 26, 1979. Reed served as Chief Judge for the District of Nevada from 1986 to 1992.
He assumed senior status on July 15, 1992 and served until his 2013 death.