David Maxwell Britt was a North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

 politician and jurist who served as Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives

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 convene for their regular session in January of each odd-numbered year...

, as one of the original judges of the North Carolina Court of Appeals

North Carolina Court of Appeals

The North Carolina Court of Appeals is the only intermediate appellate court in the state of North Carolina. It is composed of fifteen members who sit in rotating groups of three...

, and finally as a justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court

North Carolina Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of North Carolina is the state'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 of six associate justices and one chief justice, although the number of justices...

. He retired from the bench in 1982.

Born in McDonald, North Carolina

McDonald, North Carolina

McDonald is a town in Robeson County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 119 at the 2000 census.-Geography:McDonald is located at ....

, he was the brother of federal judge W. Earl Britt. Britt studied law at Wake Forest University

Wake Forest University

Wake Forest University is a private, coeducational university in the U.S. state of North Carolina, founded in 1834. The university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina, the state capital. The Reynolda Campus, the university's main campus, is...

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

Britt represented Robeson County

Robeson County, North Carolina

Robeson County is a county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of 2010 it had a population of 134,168. Since then, it has been one of the 10% of United States counties that were majority-minority; its combined population of American Indian, African American and Latino residents comprise over...

 in the North Carolina House of Representatives

North Carolina House of Representatives

The North Carolina House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The House is a 120-member body led by a Speaker of the House, who holds powers similar to those of the President pro-tem in the state senate....

 from 1958 until 1967, when Gov. Dan K. Moore

Dan K. Moore

Daniel Killian Moore was the 66th Governor of the state of North Carolina from 1965 to 1969. Born in Asheville, North Carolina, Moore earned undergraduate and law degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he was a member of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity...

 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.