--- title: "Stephen Andrew Higginson | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/stephen-andrew-higginson" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-09" --- # Stephen Andrew Higginson U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · U.S. Circuit Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit - State: National federal courts - Role: U.S. Circuit Judge - Service status: active - Last verified: 2026-07-25 ## Summary Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge. ## Biography ### Professional career - Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review: Judge since February 25, 2021 - Judge, Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, 2011-present - Associate professor, Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, 2004-2011 - held a position as Assistant U.S. Attorney in the District of Massachusetts (1989–1993) and later in the Eastern District of Louisiana (1993–2011) - Law clerk, Hon. Byron White, Supreme Court of the United States, 1988-1989 - held the role of law clerk to Chief Judge Patricia Wald (D.C. Circuit) (1987–1988) and to Justice Byron White of the U.S. Supreme Court (1988–1989) - Law clerk, Hon. Patricia Wald, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, 1987-1988 - American federal judge serving on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and as Presiding Judge of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review ### Education - M.Phil. — University of Cambridge — 1992 - Yale University — J.D. (1987) - Yale Law School, where he was editor-in-chief of The Yale Law Journal — J.D. (1987) - Harvard University — B.A. (1983) - Harvard College ### Additional information - Presiding Judge since August 16, 2023 - U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit: Appointed by President Barack Obama on May 9, 2011; confirmed by the Senate 88–0 on October 31, 2011; commissioned November 2, 2011 - Born April 12, 1961, in Boston, Massachusetts. - Date of birth: 1961-01-01 - Higginson has authored and sat on numerous Fifth Circuit cases, covering areas such as labor law, civil rights, and criminal procedure. - His rulings often focus on statutory interpretation and procedural issues, as seen in Starbucks v. - NLRB, where he required agencies to apply the correct legal test for coercion under the totality of the circumstances. - Birth place: Boston, MA ## Before you appear - Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed. - Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance. - Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding. ## Courtroom Rules ### appellate oral argument Scope: courtwide In federal courts of appeals, oral argument is allowed unless a three-judge panel unanimously finds one of Rule 34's specified grounds for dispensing with it; the clerk provides the date, time, place, and time allocation. Evidence excerpt: Oral argument must be allowed in every case unless a panel of three judges who have examined the briefs and record unanimously agrees that oral argument is unnecessary [Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 34, Oral Argument](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-appellate-procedure) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ## Sources - [Official profile](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1393836) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1393836) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1393836) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/1455/stephen-andrew-higginson/) - [Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 34, Oral Argument](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-appellate-procedure) - [Federal Judicial Center — Biographical Directory of Federal Judges](https://www.fjc.gov/sites/default/files/history/judges.csv) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/1455/stephen-andrew-higginson/) - [Wikidata: Stephen A. Higginson](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7608528) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/stephen-andrew-higginson", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/stephen-andrew-higginson", "name": "Stephen Andrew Higginson | KnowJudges", "description": "Stephen Andrew Higginson, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. 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