David Maxwell Britt (January 3, 1917 – May 5, 2009) was a

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

politician and jurist who served as

Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives The Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives is the presiding officer of one of the houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The Speaker is elected by the members of the house when they first convene for their regular session, ...

, as one of the original judges of the

North Carolina Court of Appeals The North Carolina Court of Appeals (in case citation, N.C. Ct. App.) is the only intermediate appellate court in the state of North Carolina. It is composed of fifteen members who sit in rotating panels of three. The Court of Appeals was create ...

, and finally as a justice of the

North Carolina Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of North Carolina is the state of North Carolina's highest appellate court. Until the creation of the North Carolina Court of Appeals in the 1960s, it was the state's only appellate court. The Supreme Court consists ...

. He retired from the bench in 1982. Born in McDonald, North Carolina, he was the brother of federal judge W. Earl Britt. Britt studied law at

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The Reynolda Campus, the un ...

and then passed the bar exam, even though he left law school a few classes short of graduation. Britt represented

Robeson County Robeson County is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of North Carolina and is its largest county by land area. Its county seat is and largest city is Lumberton. The county was formed in 1787 from part of Bladen County and named in ...

in the North Carolina House of Representatives from 1958 until 1967, when Gov. Dan K. Moore appointed him to the new Court of Appeals. As a legislator, Britt helped reform the state's judicial system, including creating the state Court of Appeals and state District Courts. Britt was elected to the state Supreme Court in 1978, succeeding I. Beverly Lake, Sr., and served through 1982. He then joined the Raleigh law firm of Bailey & Dixon.Bailey & Dixon: Lawyers Emeritus
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References

1917 births 2009 deaths People from Robeson County, North Carolina Wake Forest University alumni Members of the North Carolina House of Representatives North Carolina Court of Appeals judges Justices of the North Carolina Supreme Court Speakers of the North Carolina House of Representatives North Carolina lawyers 20th-century American judges 20th-century American legislators 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century North Carolina politicians {{NorthCarolina-politician-stub