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 United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

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-level court with jurisdiction over the northern counties of Illinois. Appeals from the Northern District of Illinois ar ...

Education and career

Duff was born on September 15, 1930, in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

as the third of ten children. He received an

Artium Baccalaureus Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree from the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

in 1953 and received a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from

DePaul University College of Law The DePaul University College of Law is the professional graduate law school of DePaul University in Chicago. The College of Law’s facilities encompass nine floors across two buildings, with features such as the Vincent G. Rinn Law Library and ...

in 1962. Duff was in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

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 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Sele ...

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 (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. 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 current constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 re ...

. He served as the minority whip for the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

. 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, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

to the

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

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

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 Julia Harrington Duff (November 30, 1859 – 1932) was an American educator and community leader, known as the first Irish-American woman to serve on the Boston School Committee. Early life Julia Elizabeth Harrington was born in Charlestown, Massac ...

, 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 20th-century American judges University of Notre Dame alumni DePaul University College of Law alumni United States Navy officers