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Patrick Higginbotham
Patrick Errol Higginbotham (born December 16, 1938) is an American judge and lawyer who serves as a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Background and education Judge Higginbotham was born in McCalla, Alabama to George and Ann Higginbotham (née Tumlin). The youngest of three, Higginbotham showed academic promise early in life. Higginbotham received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Alabama in 1960, attending on a tennis scholarship offered to him by then-Athletic-Director Paul "Bear" Bryant and serving as the team captain. He finished college and law school in just five years and received in 1961 a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Alabama School of Law at Tuscaloosa, where he also met Elizabeth, his eventual wife of 52 years. Career He was in the United States Air Force, JAG Corps from 1961 to 1964. He then joined Coke & Coke in Dallas, Texas from 1964 to 1975, where he primarily worked in a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Senior Status
Senior status is a form of semi- retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of service as a federal judge must be at least 80 years. As long as senior judges carry at least a 25 percent caseload or meet other criteria for activity, they remain entitled to maintain a staffed office and chambers, including a secretary and their normal complement of law clerks, and they continue to receive annual cost-of-living increases. Senior judges vacate their seats on the bench, and the president may appoint new full-time judges to fill those seats. Some U.S. states have similar systems for senior judges. State courts with a similar system include Iowa (for judges on the Iowa Court of Appeals), Pennsylvania, and Virginia (for justices of the Virginia Supreme Court). Statutory requirements Senior status at the federal level is defined by statute: . To qualify for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |