Justice Sam J. Ervin, IV, was elected to the North Carolina Supreme Court in 2014. Since joining the Supreme Court, he has participated in deciding more than 540 cases and has authored more than 75 majority and 18 dissenting or concurring opinions in fully argued cases.

Prior to joining the Supreme Court, Justice Ervin served on the North Carolina Court of Appeals from 2009 to 2015 and the North Carolina Utilities Commission from 1999 to 2009.

He graduated from Davidson College, and earned his law degree, cum laude, from Harvard Law School.

From 1981 until 1999, Justice Ervin practiced law in Morganton, North Carolina. He handled a wide variety of civil, criminal, and administrative matters, including numerous appeals to the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court.Justice Ervin was born in Morganton and lives in the house where his grandfather, Senator Sam J. Ervin, Jr., was born. He is married to Mary Temple Ervin and has two stepchildren and two children. He is a member of the First Presbyterian Church, where he has served as a deacon and an elder. He has been active in various charitable and bar-related activities and officiates youth, middle school, and high school soccer matches.