James G. Exum

Who is James G. Exum?

James G. 'Jim' Exum, Jr. is an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice and Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court.

After earning his law degree at the New York University School of Law, Exum clerked for North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Emery B. Denny. He was briefly a member of the North Carolina House of Representatives before serving as a state Superior Court judge. Exum served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court from 1974 to 1986 and as Chief Justice from late 1986 to January 1, 1995. He has also been an instructor at the law schools of both the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Duke University, and is currently in residence at the Elon University School of Law.

In 2006 Exum joined the faculty of Elon University's new law school as Distinguished Jurist in Residence, helping with appellate practice instruction and teaching courses such as legal skills, professional responsibility and legal ethics, while continuing to practice at the law firm Smith Moore Leatherwood LLP.