Michael Tigar
From Bibliz Notables
Michael E. Tigar,1941, is an American criminal defense attorney who has represented some of the country's most controversial clients. He is also a member of the Duke University Law School faculty.
Tigar earned his B.A. in 1962 and a J.D. in 1966, both from the University of California, Berkeley. As an undergraduate, he was elected to the Associated Students board as a SLATE candidate. He was a member of Order of the Coif (law student honor society) and editor-in-chief of the California Law Review.
Tigar has been married four times. He has been married to journalist Jane Blanksteen Tigar since August 22, 1996. He has three children by his previous marriages.
In 1999, the California Attorneys for Criminal Justice held a ballot for "Lawyer of the Century." Mr. Tigar was third in the balloting, behind Clarence Darrow and Thurgood Marshall. In 2003, the Texas Civil Rights Project named its new building in Austin, Texas, (purchased with a gift from attorney Wayne Reaud) the "Michael Tigar Human Rights Center."
He is Visiting Professor at Duke Law School, 2007-08. He has been visiting professor at the law faculty of the Universite Paul Cezanne, Aix-en-Provence, and has lectured at law schools in several countries. Throughout his career, Tigar has been active in pro bono cases, the American Bar Association, continuing legal education programs, and international human rights. During the apartheid period, he went to South Africa to train black lawyers.
He is author or editor of more than a dozen books, including Thinking About Terrorism: The Threat to Civil Liberties in Times of National Emergency, Fighting Injustice, Examining Witnesses (2d ed.), Persuasion: The Litigator's Art, and Law and the Rise of Capitalism (2d ed.). He has also written three plays and dozens of law review articles.
