 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.