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Celeste Higgins graduated with a Finance degree from the University of Miami, School of Business and her Juris Doctor from the University of Miami, School of Law. While at law school, she was an Articles and Comments Editor for the Entertainment and Sports Law Review, a member of the Moot Court Board, a member of the national Trial Team, and was awarded the Order of the Coif and Order of the Barrister. She began her legal career clerking for the Honorable Federico A. Moreno in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida after which she joined the offices of the Federal Defender for the Southern District of Florida. She worked there as a trial lawyer for over 27 years, 10 of those years in a supervisory capacity. Celeste has represented individuals in cases spanning a broad range of complex criminal matters, including international terrorism, OFAC violations, securities, Medicare, banking, insurance, consumer, mail, and wire fraud. She has tried over 90 federal trials to jury and over 20 bench trials in federal and state courts, in criminal and civil matters.
Ms. Higgins has been an adjunct professor at the University of Miami School of Law for over 20 years, having been tapped as one of the youngest attorneys to receive that honor. She was the Director of the Litigation Skills Program at the law school from 2018-2019. In 2018, Celeste was honored to have been inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, an invitation only society, where she serves on the Florida State Committee, the National Mock Trial Committee, and previously on the International Training and Heritage committees. She currently serves the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida as a member of the Ad Hoc Committee on Attorney Admissions, Peer Review, and Attorney Grievances.
Ms. Higgins has served as President of the South Florida Chapter of the Federal Bar Association and past Secretary and Board of Director member of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Miami Chapter. She was selected by the Chief Judge to serve on the Committee for the 2014 Bench and Bar Conference for the Southern District of Florida. She served several terms as a member of the Criminal Justice Act Committee for the Southern District of Florida, a 2-term member of the Florida Bar Grievance Committee, and a graduate of the National Criminal Defense College. As a criminal defense attorney, she served as a panel member of the Criminal Justice Act Panel between 2020-2026.
Celeste opened and operated The Higgins Law Firm, PLLC between 2019 – 2026. Throughout that time, she also taught trial skills, oral advocacy, and rule-of-law principles internationally. She has lectured to students, attorneys, professors, and judges, and her fluency in Spanish allows her to teach, train, and write in Spanish for native-speaking audiences.
