He received a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1952.
He was a tax attorney at the firm of Arthur Andersen & Co. in Boston, Massachusetts from 1952 to 1953.
He was a special deputy state attorney general for water rights litigation in Nevada from 1967 to 1979.
[2] Reed was nominated by President Jimmy Carter on April 12, 1979, to the United States District Court for the District of Nevada, to a new seat created by 92 Stat.
He assumed senior status on July 15, 1992, serving in that capacity until his death on June 1, 2013, in Reno.