Tim Crooks graduated with a B.S. from Tulane University, and received his J.D. from Tulane Law School. Immediately after graduating from law school, he clerked for Associate Justice Walter F. Marcus, Jr., of the Louisiana Supreme Court. After stints in private practice and as a staff attorney at the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, Mr. Crooks joined the office of the Federal Public Defender, Northern District of Texas, where he served as an Assistant Federal Public Defender from 1990 to June of 2001, and the Chief of Appeals from 1993 to 2001. In July of 2001, he joined the office of the Federal Public Defender for the Southern District of Texas, where he served as the Chief of the Appellate Section in Houston, Texas, until his retirement in 2017. He is currently in private practice.  He has litigated numerous cases in the United States Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.  

In 1999, Mr. Crooks was recognized nationally as an Outstanding Assistant Federal Public Defender. He served as the President of the National Association of Federal Defenders from 2005 until 2007. In 2014, he was awarded the Gregory S. Coleman Outstanding Appellate Lawyer Award by the Texas Bar Foundation. He served as a Director on the Board of Directors for the Bar Association of the Fifth Federal Circuit.