Admitted to the bar in 1876 in West Virginia, Payne entered politics five years later as the chairman of the Preston County Democratic Party. He moved to Chicago, Illinois, in 1883, and was elected in 1893 to the Superior Court of Cook County, which he served on until resigning from that post in 1898. After resigning his judgeship, Payne was the senior partner in Winston, Payne, Strawn and Shaw. A successor firm still exists. He was the president of the Chicago's South Park Board from 1911 to 1924.