He has been actively involved in efforts to bring to justice members of the Chilean junta, including former President Pinochet. Of 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." 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." In retirement, Tigar is professor of the practice of law emeritus at Duke Law School, and research professor emeritus at the American University, Washington College of Law. He has been visiting professor at the law faculty of the Paul Cézanne University, Aix-en-Provence, and has lectured at law schools in several countries. In 2016, Tigar donated his papers to the University of Texas Law School Library, which held a symposium to launch the collection in 2018. 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, Rep. John M. Murphy (during the Abscam scandal), former Gov. John Connally, Fantasy Films and Mobil Oil. Tigar has been married four times. He has been married to journalist-turned-attorney Jane Blanksteen Tigar since 1996. He has three children by previous marriages;  United States Federal Judge Jon S. Tigar., addiction medicine specialist Katherine McQueen, M.D., and business advisor Elizabeth Torrey Tigar. He has four grandchildren.