Brian Barnett Duff (September 15, 1930 – February 25, 2016) was a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

of the

United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (in case citations, N.D. Ill.) is the federal trial court with jurisdiction over the northern counties of Illinois. It is one of the busiest federal trial courts in the Uni ...

Education and career

Duff was born on September 15, 1930, in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

as the third of ten children. He received an Artium Baccalaureus degree from the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

in 1953 and received a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from

DePaul University College of Law DePaul University College of Law is the law school of DePaul University, a private Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois. It employs more than 125 full- and part-time faculty members and enrolls more than 500 students in its Juri ...

in 1962. Duff was in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

as a lieutenant in the JAG Corps from 1953 to 1956 and served in the

United States Naval Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2004, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called reservists, are categorized as being in either the S ...

from 1957 to 1961. He was an assistant to Chief Executive Officer of Banker's Life and Casualty from 1962 to 1967. Duff was a Vice President and general counsel of R. H. Gore Co. from 1968 to 1969 and was in private practice from 1965 until 1976 in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. From 1971 to 1976, Duff was a Member in the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 representativ ...

. He served as the minority whip for the Republican Party. He was also a Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Criminal Division from 1976 to 1979, and then at Circuit Court of Cook County, Law Jury Division from 1979 to 1985.

Federal judicial service

On August 1, 1985, Duff was nominated by President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

to the

, to a new seat created by 98 Stat. 333. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

on October 16, 1985, and received his commission on October 17, 1985. Duff assumed senior status due to a certified disability on October 30, 1996.

Personal life

Duff was married to Florence Buckley in 1953. They had six children. Duff died on February 25, 2016. Duff's grandmother was Julia Harrington Duff, the first Irish Catholic woman elected to the Boston School Committee, in 1901.Polly Welts Kaufman
"Julia Harrington Duff and the Political Awakening of Irish-American Women in Boston, 1888-1905"
in Susan Lynne Porter, ''Women of the Commonwealth: Work, Family, and Social Change in Nineteenth-Century Massachusetts'' (University of Massachusetts Press 1996).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Duff, Brian Barnett 1930 births 2016 deaths Lawyers from Dallas Military personnel from Texas Members of the Illinois House of Representatives Illinois state court judges Judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois United States district court judges appointed by Ronald Reagan University of Notre Dame alumni DePaul University College of Law alumni United States Navy officers