A state senator has resigned from the North Carolina General Assembly and is joining a Raleigh law firm to help clients on economic development, regulatory and other government policy issues.

Five-term Republican Sen. Richard Stevens of Cary resigned effective last Friday, and the Smith Anderson law firm announced his hiring Monday.

Stevens already had announced in February he wasn't seeking re-election this fall. He served in the budget-adjusting session that ended in early July. Stevens is a former Wake County manager who once served as the trustee board chairman at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

It's unclear whether Wake County Republican leaders will choose someone to serve out the remaining four months of Stevens' term, since there are no plans for the Legislature to reconvene this year.