John E. Higgins Jr.

John E. Higgins Jr.

John E. Higgins Jr. Former Deputy General Counsel, National Labor Relations Board | Distinguished Lecturer and Adjunct Professor, The Catholic University Columbus School of Law


John E. Higgins, Jr., former Deputy General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board, is an adjunct professor at The Catholic University Columbus School of Law. He worked for the NLRB for 46 years before retiring. He began his career as a Field Attorney and then Supervisory Attorney in the Memphis Regional Office. He then served in Washington, D.C., in the Division of Advice, the Division of Operations-Management, as Inspector General, and as Solicitor. He served as Acting General Counsel and twice as a Board Member.

Mr. Higgins is a graduate of Boston College, Boston University Law School, and the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations. He teaches Labor and Employment Law, Public Sector Labor Law, and Local Government Law at Catholic University Law School. He was Co-Editor of the 4th Edition of The Developing Labor Law, published by the American Bar Association; was the Editor-in-Chief of the 5th, 6th, and 7th Editions of that text; and is currently drafting the 8th Edition. He is the Co-Editor-in-Chief of How to Take a Case before the NLRB, another ABA treatise. He also lectures on D.C. labor law at the D.C. Public Employee Relations Board (PERB).

Mr. Higgins was honorably discharged from the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve in 1966.

Mr. Higgins and his wife, Rosemary Pye, a labor arbitrator and retired NLRB Regional Director, live in Chevy Chase, MD.