About Thomas P
Thomas P Higgins built a career that bridges classrooms, municipal hearing rooms and private practice. He completed an associate degree in law enforcement at Illinois Central College and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in administration of criminal justice from Bradley University. He then obtained a J.D. from The John Marshall Law School and later added a Master of Online Teaching from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
His early work combined teaching and legal training. While still a law student he served as a senior law student in the Illinois Attorney General’s Office in 1989. Before and after law school he taught at Illinois Central College, where he held a position as a professor in the mid-1980s. That experience gave him a grounding in both classroom instruction and practical legal issues.
After earning his law degree he entered private practice. He joined Prusak & Winne, Ltd. as an associate in 1990 and later became a member of the firm. Over time his work expanded beyond the private firm setting. In 1997 he took on a role as an administrative hearing officer for Illinois municipalities, a position that placed him at the intersection of local government procedure and dispute resolution. Those hearings involved enforcing local rules, managing evidentiary records and issuing written decisions for municipal bodies.
Higgins’s admissions cover trial and appellate venues as well as the highest federal court. He is admitted in Illinois and before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and he holds admission to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court. He has maintained membership in the Peoria County Bar Association since 1990.
The arc of his career shows an attorney comfortable in several professional settings. He has handled matters inside a law firm, overseen contested municipal proceedings, and taught adults in academic programs. His academic work in criminal justice and law enforcement informs how he approaches regulatory and municipal issues. His time in government service as a law student and later as a hearing officer complements his private-practice experience.
Today he practices under the name Thomas P. Higgins, Esq. He continues to accept matters that draw on his background in municipal hearings, administrative matters and local government law. He maintains an active office and remains involved in the local bar association.
