Michael Tigar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Michael E. Tigar is an American criminal defense attorney. Born in 1941, he earned a 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. He was a partner in the firm of Williams & Connolly of Washington, DC (1976-8), where he worked underneath legendary trial attorney Edward Bennett Williams, and has been a professor at American University's Washington College of Law since 1998 [Association of American Law Schools Directory of Law Teachers 2007-08, p.1095].
In his teaching, he has worked with law students in clinical programs where students are counsel or law clerks in significant human rights litigation. He has made several trips to South Africa, working with organizations of African lawyers engaged in the struggle to end apartheid, and after the release of Nelson Mandela from prison, to lecture on human rights issues and to advise the African National Congress on issues in drafting a new constitution. He has been actively involved in efforts to bring to justice members of the Chilean junta, including former President Pinochet. Of Mr. Tigar’s career, Justice William J. Brennan has written that his “tireless striving for justice stretches his arms towards perfection.”
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.”
[edit] Famous Clients
- Lynne Stewart, who was charged with conspiracy and providing material support to terrorists
- Terry Nichols, of the Oklahoma City bombing
- Angela Davis, Activist accused of murdering Judge Harold Haley
- Kiko Martinez, Chicano activist
- Fernando Chavez, son of Cesar Chavez, accused of draft evasion
- Scott McClellan, who is scheduled to testify before Congress regarding the role of the Bush Administration in the CIA leak case regarding the identity of former CIA agent Valerie Plame.
Tigar has argued seven cases before the United States Supreme Court, and over 100 federal appellate cases. He has tried cases in all parts of the United States. In addition to activist clients, he has represented Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Rep. Ronald Dellums, former Gov. John Connally, Fantasy Films and Mobil Oil. 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.
[edit] References
- Browning, John G. "Legally Speaking: When a Lawyer Goes Too Far", "At trial, [Lynne Stewart] was represented by noted defense attorney Michael Tigar (a favorite of the left whose past clients have included '60s radical Angela Davis and Oklahoma City bombing defendant Terry Nichols), who argued..." Southeast Texas Record, 2007-10-10. Retrieved 2007-10-20.
