Carlisle W. Higgins


Carlisle Wallace Higgins was a North Carolina attorney and jurist. He was a native of Alleghany County, North Carolina.
Higgins served in both houses of the North Carolina General Assembly before being appointed U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of North Carolina by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1946 he became a prosecutor for the war crimes trials in Japan. Higgins later served as an Associate Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. He is among the longest-serving justices in the history of the North Carolina Supreme Court. Upon his retirement from the Court, he joined the law firm of Tharrington Smith, co-founded by his former law clerk, Wade Smith. He remained with the Raleigh-based firm until his death in 1980.
YearCareer Highlights
1914Joined Governor Rufus A. Doughton as a lawyer, Served in US Army in WWI
1925–26North Carolina House of Representatives
1929–30North Carolina Senate
1930Solicitor of the old 11th Judicial District composed of Ashe, Alleghany, Surry, Forsyth, Rockingham, and Caswell Counties
1934–47US Attorney for the Middle District of North Carolina residing in Greensboro
1945–47Assistant Chief Prosecutor for the Allied Powers in the prosecution of General Tojo
1947Private law practice in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
1952Managed the successful campaign of his law classmate, William B. Umstead, for Governor
1954Appointed Democratic National Committeeman
1954–74Appointed Associate Justice of North Carolina Supreme Court