Carlisle Wallace Higgins

Carlisle Wallace Higgins (October 17, 1889 – October 9, 1980) 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 (1934–1947). 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 (1954–1974). 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.

Year Career Highlights 1914 Joined Governor Rufus A. Doughton as a lawyer, Served in US Army in WWI 1925–26 North Carolina House of Representatives 1929–30 North Carolina Senate 1930 Solicitor of the old 11th Judicial District composed of Ashe, Alleghany, Surry, Forsyth, Rockingham, and Caswell Counties 1934–47 US Attorney for the Middle District of North Carolina residing in Greensboro 1945–47 Assistant Chief Prosecutor for the Allied Powers in the prosecution of General Tojo 1947 Private law practice in Winston-Salem, North Carolina 1952 Managed the successful campaign of his law classmate, William B. Umstead, for Governor 1954 Appointed Democratic National Committeeman 1954–74 Appointed Associate Justice of North Carolina Supreme Court