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Pauline
Higgins

Attorney

Houston, Texas

Pauline Higgins, a seasoned corporate lawyer and longtime resident of Houston, is well known for championing diversity and inclusion in the workplace and actively participating in local politics. Higgins, former Senior Partner and Chief Diversity Officer for the law firm of Thompson & Knight LLC, has been the Diversity and Inclusion Columnist for Texas Lawyer magazine and American Law Media since 2008. She is a frequent speaker and panelist at professional events such as the American Bar Association’s Globalization of Diversity Summit, sponsored by the Law Society of England and Wales and the General Council of the Bar of England and Wales. She was profiled in the May/June 2010 issue of The Houston Lawyer magazine’s feature on Women Making a Difference in Law.

Since 1995, Pauline Higgins has been a member of EMILY’s List, a national organization dedicated to electing pro-choice Democratic and Republican women to political office. From 1994 to 1996, Higgins campaigned for Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, serving as Chief of Staff and Treasurer. In 1995, Jackson Lee nominated Pauline Higgins as the John C. Stennis Congressional Staff Fellow for the 104th Congress. Before becoming a transactional lawyer, Pauline Higgins spent more than 10 years working for the accounting firm of Coopers & Lybrand, now known as PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP, as Senior Audit Manager. Higgins subsequently graduated with a Juris Doctor from Tulane University Law School, thereafter earning her Master of Laws in Taxation from the University of Houston Law Center.

While at Tulane, Pauline Higgins was invited to write for the Tulane Law Review, selected by the Dean to participate in Tulane Law School American Inn of Court for the 5th Circuit, and listed in the 1988-1989 edition of Who’s Who Among American Law Students. Higgins received her Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Louisiana State University E. J. Ourso College of Business, making the Dean’s list for four consecutive years, and bein inducted into Beta Alpha Psi, an honorary accounting fraternity based on academic achievement and grades. Additionally, while at Louisiana State, Higgins served as Chair of the International Student Body Association, as well as a member of the Board of Student Government.


Pauline Higgins's Schools

Pauline Higgins's Publications

  • Texas Lawyer and the Extraordinary Women in Texas Law, By Pauline Higgins
    May, 2012
    Recently, the editors of Texas Lawyer deliberated for several months to choose 30 female attorneys who have made an impact on law and the law profession in Texas within the past five years. I am humbled and thrilled to say that I was one of the finalists chosen for this prestigious recognition, known as Extraordinary Women in Texas Law.

    Receiving the honor required months worth of interviews and research on behalf of Texas Lawyer’s editorial staff. Late this September, Extraordinary Women in Texas Law will be published as a special edition of Texas Lawyer and circulated to over 10,000 legal professionals, including attorneys, C-level executives, corporate counsel groups, and individuals. Recipients of the honor will attend a luncheon on November 14th at Dallas, Texas’s Belo Mansion. Texas Lawyer contacted U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison as a guest speaker, as well as 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge Edith H. Jones.

    A widely read periodical, Texas Lawyer reaches more than 16,300 members of the Lone Star State’s legal professionals. Dedicated specifically to the legal scene of Texas, Texas Lawyer offers a variety of publications, such as the eponymous weekly newspaper, the TexasLawyer.com website, which receives daily updates, and numerous books covering Texas codes, practice guides, and more.

    Due to Texas Lawyer’s eminent standing in the legal community, recipients of the Extraordinary Women in Texas Law honor receive deserved recognition by their peers. I am proud to join 29 other women in the mission to break ground for those of us involved in our profession.