Attorney Matt Harbin (Partner)

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Matt Harbin joined the Law Offices of James Scott Farrin in 2003 and became a Partner with the firm in 2008. He has spent more than twenty years fighting for the rights of injured workers throughout North Carolina, and he is a tireless and empathetic advocate.

Matt grew up in Delaware surrounded by a large extended family in a community where people looked after each other. His father, a public school teacher, and his mother, an assistant director of a senior center, instilled in their three children a service orientation towards others that would later guide Matt in his career choice.

An Affinity for Helping Injured Workers

Industrious and independent, Matt left Delaware and moved to Charlotte, where he worked for a year before enrolling in the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. As an undergrad, he joined a pre-law society group and was introduced to his future career path.

He also met lifelong friends who would go on to practice law throughout the state. The group met regularly with practicing attorneys and even travelled to DC to have audiences with legal dignitaries, such as Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy and Senator Bob Dole.

After earning his J.D. from the University of North Carolina School of Law, Matt accepted a position with a Raleigh firm and handled criminal, employment, and workers’ compensation cases. Next, he worked at the North Carolina Industrial Commission (the agency in charge of workers’ comp in N.C.) as a Special Deputy Commissioner, where he learned the ins-and-outs of the workers’ compensation system.

While he always maintained the impartiality required of the position, Matt recognized that his sympathies often laid with the injured workers. In 2003, he decided to put himself in a position where he could work directly with these individuals, and he interviewed with the Law Offices of James Scott Farrin.

Matt loves his job. He knew from a young age that he wanted to help others, and as a workers’ comp lawyer, he has the opportunity to solve many people’s problems. He also learns new things daily – about medical conditions and employment issues – and this combination of learning and advocacy suits him well.

Since joining the firm, Matt has become a rare North Carolina State Bar Board Certified Specialist in Workers’ Compensation law and a member of the American Association for Justice, the Workplace Injury Litigation Group, and North Carolina Advocates for Justice, which honored Matt with an Order of Service award in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Matt was also named to the Best Lawyers in America “Best Lawyers”⁴ list for Workers’ Compensation law from 2021 to 2025.

At Home in Greensboro

Matt and his wife live in Greensboro and have two daughters and a son. His wife’s parents live nearby, and his children grew up, as he did, surrounded by family. In his spare time, Matt enjoys sharing his legal knowledge and experience with aspiring students as a volunteer mock trial advisor at Grimsley High School and walking with his family in their neighborhood.

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