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Ashley Higginson Earns 5 Under 35 Recognition
Miller Canfield is pleased to announce that Ashley Higginson has been selected as a recipient of the Ingham County Bar Association’s annual 5 Under 35 Award.
Higginson is a principal attorney in Miller Canfield’s office in Lansing, Michigan, where she is a key member of the firm’s Employment and Labor Group and higher education practice team.
A native of Colts Neck, New Jersey, Higginson earned her bachelor’s degree at Princeton University, where she majored in politics. While there, she was a member of the varsity cross-country, indoor, and outdoor track team where she was a multi-time All American, Ivy League record holder, captain, and leader among student athletes. As a senior, she received the C. Otto von Kienbusch Award, given annually to the top senior sportswoman at Princeton.
After college, Higginson ran professionally, qualifying for the 2013 World Championships and earning the position of 2021 Olympic Team alternate. She represented Team USA various times in her career, including as a gold medalist at the 2015 Pan-American Games. She continues to serve the sport on the USA Track and Field Association’s Legal Committee.
Higginson earned her J.D. from Rutgers University School of Law, where she graduated cum laude.
Higginson assists clients in class actions, FLSA, discharge, harassment, discrimination, wage and hour matters and traditional employment litigation. She also serves clients as an advocate and day-to-day counsel, helping clients with general employment and labor matters. She assists Miller Canfield’s higher education clients nationwide and helps lead the team that conducts investigations into reports of sexual harassment and misconduct pursuant to Title IX. Higginson also works on the litigation team that defends the firm’s university clients in court.
Still an avid runner, Higginson says that her background as a student-athlete shapes her understanding of Title IX and the opportunities that college athletics provide to student-athletes, while also impacting how she helps clients with compliance issues.
In addition to her exemplary work for clients, Higginson is an active leader in the community. Her civic involvement and accomplishments include:
Honors
- Michigan Lawyers Weekly Up & Coming Lawyer, 2023
- State Bar of Michigan Pro Bono Honor Roll, 2021
- Middle distance runner: U.S. Olympic Team Alternate, Pan-American & NACAC Gold Medalist, 3-time Collegiate All-American, 5-time National Champion
Civic, Cultural & Social Activities
- United States Track and Field Association, Serve on Legal Committee at the Selection of USTAF President, 2021-2024
- Greater Lansing Society of Human Resource Management, Board Member & Legislative Director
- AthleteBiz, Board Member
- Highfields Inc. Board of Directors Member
- Covenant House (Newark, New Jersey), previous Board Member
Teaching/Speaking Engagements
- Michigan School Business Officials, Annual Conference Speaker (2021 and 2022)
- Seton Hall Law School, guest lecturer (2018)
The Ingham County Bar Association 5 Under 35 award recognizes young lawyers who have distinguished themselves in their relatively short career by manifesting: exemplary character, integrity, judgment and legal scholarship; service to the profession and the bar; service to the community; and a reputation for or the advancement of the highest legal standards and professional responsibility.
