Preceded by Richard B. Sanders Nationality American | Occupation Lawyer, Judge Name Charles Wiggins | |
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Alma mater Princeton University
University of Hawaii
Duke Law School Education Duke University School of Law, University of Hawaii, Princeton University, University of Hawaii at Manoa | ||
Charles K. Wiggins (born September 7, 1947) is a member of the Washington Supreme Court. He was elected to the court in 2010, defeating incumbent Richard B. Sanders.
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Early life and education
Wiggins grew up the son of a career warrant officer and was a Boy Scout Eagle Scout. He attended Princeton University on ROTC scholarship, graduating magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. He then served in the Army Military Intelligence Corps for four years, rising to the rank of Captain and earning his MBA in night school. He attended Duke Law School with help from the G.I. Bill and was admitted to the Bar in 1976.
Career
In private practice, Wiggins was a name partner with the firm of Edwards, Sieh, Wiggins & Hathaway, and later where he focused primarily on in appeals, both civil and criminal, in the State Supreme Court, the State Court of Appeals, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and once as co-counsel in the United States Supreme Court, but also tried cases throughout Washington State. Later he established the firm of Wiggins & Masters PLLC on Bainbridge Island handling exclusively appellate cases. He served as a judge on Division Two of the Washington Court of Appeals,. He has also served as a pro tem superior court judge in a number of cases in King and Jefferson Counties and as a pro tem district court judge in Kitsap County.
Wiggins served on the Washington State Bar Rules Committee, the Disciplinary Board, task forces drafting and revising the rules that govern many aspects of law. He served as president-elect, president, and past president of the Washington Chapter of the American Judicature Society, working to help educate the public about judicial elections and to improve judicial elections generally. He worked with a coalition of lawyers, bar associations and government groups to establish the nonpartisan award-winning website Voting For Judges.