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Sensing Injustice: A Lawyer's Life in the Battle for Change
The remarkable life of a lawyer at the forefront of civil and human rights since the 1960s
By the time he was 26, Michael Tigar was a legend in legal circles well before he would take on some of the highest-profile cases of his generation. In his first US Supreme Court case―at the age of 28―Tigar won a unanimous victory that freed thousands of Vietnam War resisters from prison. Tigar also led the legal team that secured a judgment against the Pinochet regime for the 1976 murders of Pinochet opponent Orlando Letelier and his colleague Ronni Moffitt in a Washington, DC car bombing. He then worked with the lawyers who prosecuted Pinochet for torture and genocide. A relentless fighter of injustice―not only as a human rights lawyer, but also as a teacher, scholar, journalist, playwright, and comrade―Tigar has been counsel to Angela Davis, Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin (H. Rap Brown), the Chicago Eight, and leaders of the Black Panther Party, to name only a few. It is past time that Michael Tigar wrote his memoir.
Sensing A Lawyer's Life in the Battle for Change is a vibrant literary and legal feat. In it, Tigar weaves powerful legal analysis and wry observation through the story of his remarkable life. The result is a compelling narrative that blends law, history, and progressive politics. This is essential reading for lawyers, for law students, for anyone who aspires to bend the law toward change.
By the time he was 26, Michael Tigar was a legend in legal circles well before he would take on some of the highest-profile cases of his generation. In his first US Supreme Court case―at the age of 28―Tigar won a unanimous victory that freed thousands of Vietnam War resisters from prison. Tigar also led the legal team that secured a judgment against the Pinochet regime for the 1976 murders of Pinochet opponent Orlando Letelier and his colleague Ronni Moffitt in a Washington, DC car bombing. He then worked with the lawyers who prosecuted Pinochet for torture and genocide. A relentless fighter of injustice―not only as a human rights lawyer, but also as a teacher, scholar, journalist, playwright, and comrade―Tigar has been counsel to Angela Davis, Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin (H. Rap Brown), the Chicago Eight, and leaders of the Black Panther Party, to name only a few. It is past time that Michael Tigar wrote his memoir.
Sensing A Lawyer's Life in the Battle for Change is a vibrant literary and legal feat. In it, Tigar weaves powerful legal analysis and wry observation through the story of his remarkable life. The result is a compelling narrative that blends law, history, and progressive politics. This is essential reading for lawyers, for law students, for anyone who aspires to bend the law toward change.
512 pages, Hardcover
Published April 20, 2021
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June 16, 2023
"The law is a mask that the state puts on when it wants to commit some indecency on the oppressed." - Michael E. Tigar
If you're going to be a lawyer, be this guy. To me, legendary civil rights lawyer, Michael Tigar, bold, witty, introspective, and ethical, is a rock star. He freed thousands of Vietnam war resistors, represented the Black Panthers, the Chicago Eight, Angela Davis, and so many more.
I'm a fan of the old Dick Cavett shows. His shows exemplify to me days when people had something to say and were listened to by a likeable, quirky, erudite midwesterner giving an audience eager to both learn and be entertained access to the greatest public personalities of the day.
It was on a Cavett show from 1970 that I saw Michael E. Tiger. He held me spellbound as he discussed the Seattle Seven and Rap Brown Law. I immediately bought his autobigraphy. It was a tough but rewarding read. I'd love to see this memoir be required reading. It's that good.
The case law in the book sometimes made my eyes cross a bit, but I pushed on because Tigar, a brilliant man and gifted writer, colorfully guides us through his personal, professional, and emotional life explaining with detailed clarity how he came to his decisions that led to his grand career in the heart of human rights from the 60s and on. Sensing Injustice..., a page turner, is a history lesson, a remarkable life story, examination of a person of conscience who was in the right places to use his legal expertise on unprecedented cases, and a walk through the dark and light of humanity.
Tigar drops infamous names like confetti, without any pretense, because this is his world and the professor gives us a front row seat to it all.
He confesses, "Looking back, there are some clients, causes, and actions that I took in the firm belief I was serving justice, and now I am not that sure," and "...all of us who have a sense of justice are likely to have doubts about the worth of our work." About Angela Davis he says, "When the state indicted Angela Davis, it was deploying the mythologies of Black/Woman/Communist/GunOwner as lenses of refraction through which to view her and her conduct. Angela, speaking for herself, and her lawyers busted the mythology."
Another quote I'd like to share from this book, (in which I high lit nearly half of), "Civil litigants have almost no constitutional entitlement to councel. Some of the lawyers appointed for the poor sleep through the trial and when awake do more harm than good.... Even qualified and motivated lawyers do not have equal resources." This is not news, but a strong statement coming from Tigar.
Any one of us would be lucky to have Tigar on our side when fighting injustice. If you want to dig in to a read of substance, I enthusiastically recommend this brilliant book.
If you're going to be a lawyer, be this guy. To me, legendary civil rights lawyer, Michael Tigar, bold, witty, introspective, and ethical, is a rock star. He freed thousands of Vietnam war resistors, represented the Black Panthers, the Chicago Eight, Angela Davis, and so many more.
I'm a fan of the old Dick Cavett shows. His shows exemplify to me days when people had something to say and were listened to by a likeable, quirky, erudite midwesterner giving an audience eager to both learn and be entertained access to the greatest public personalities of the day.
It was on a Cavett show from 1970 that I saw Michael E. Tiger. He held me spellbound as he discussed the Seattle Seven and Rap Brown Law. I immediately bought his autobigraphy. It was a tough but rewarding read. I'd love to see this memoir be required reading. It's that good.
The case law in the book sometimes made my eyes cross a bit, but I pushed on because Tigar, a brilliant man and gifted writer, colorfully guides us through his personal, professional, and emotional life explaining with detailed clarity how he came to his decisions that led to his grand career in the heart of human rights from the 60s and on. Sensing Injustice..., a page turner, is a history lesson, a remarkable life story, examination of a person of conscience who was in the right places to use his legal expertise on unprecedented cases, and a walk through the dark and light of humanity.
Tigar drops infamous names like confetti, without any pretense, because this is his world and the professor gives us a front row seat to it all.
He confesses, "Looking back, there are some clients, causes, and actions that I took in the firm belief I was serving justice, and now I am not that sure," and "...all of us who have a sense of justice are likely to have doubts about the worth of our work." About Angela Davis he says, "When the state indicted Angela Davis, it was deploying the mythologies of Black/Woman/Communist/GunOwner as lenses of refraction through which to view her and her conduct. Angela, speaking for herself, and her lawyers busted the mythology."
Another quote I'd like to share from this book, (in which I high lit nearly half of), "Civil litigants have almost no constitutional entitlement to councel. Some of the lawyers appointed for the poor sleep through the trial and when awake do more harm than good.... Even qualified and motivated lawyers do not have equal resources." This is not news, but a strong statement coming from Tigar.
Any one of us would be lucky to have Tigar on our side when fighting injustice. If you want to dig in to a read of substance, I enthusiastically recommend this brilliant book.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review