{{Short description|American judge}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2026}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | honorific_suffix = | image = | alt = | caption = | office = Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois | term_start = October 30, 1996 | term_end = February 25, 2016 | office1 = Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois | term_start1 = October 17, 1985 | term_end1 = October 30, 1996 | nominator1 = | appointer1 = Ronald Reagan | predecessor1 = ''Seat established by 98 Stat. 333'' | successor1 = Ronald A. Guzman | pronunciation = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1930|09|15}} | birth_place = Dallas, Texas, US | death_date = {{Death date and age|2016|02|25|1930|09|25}} | death_place = Wilmette, Illinois, US | death_cause = | resting_place = All Saints Cemetery<br>Des Plaines, Illinois | resting_place_coordinates = | citizenship = | party = | other_party = | height = | spouse = | partner = | relations = | children = | parents = | mother = | father = | relatives = | education = {{nowrap|University of Notre Dame <small>(A.B.)</small>}}<br>DePaul University <small>(J.D.)</small> | alma_mater = | occupation = | profession = | known_for = | salary = | net_worth = | cabinet = | committees = | portfolio = | awards = | signature = | signature_alt = | website = <!--Embedded templates / Footnotes--> | footnotes = }} '''Brian Barnett Duff''' (September 15, 1930 – February 25, 2016) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

==Education and career==

Duff was born on September 15, 1930, in Dallas, Texas as the third of ten children.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.idaillinois.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/bb/id/34234/rec/8|title=Illinois blue book, 1971-1972|work=idaillinois.org|access-date=14 June 2015}}</ref><ref>Griffin, Richard (April 2, 2008). [http://www.wickedlocal.com/west-roxbury/news/lifestyle/columnists/x1681300907 News travels far and reconnects peers] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108032812/http://www.wickedlocal.com/west-roxbury/news/lifestyle/columnists/x1681300907 |date=November 8, 2012 }}. ''Wicked Local &ndash; West Roxbury Transcript''.</ref> He received an Artium Baccalaureus degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1953 and received a Juris Doctor from DePaul University College of Law in 1962. Duff was in the United States Navy as a lieutenant in the JAG Corps from 1953 to 1956 and served in the United States Naval Reserve 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, Illinois. From 1971 to 1976, Duff was a Member in the Illinois House of Representatives. 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.<ref name="fjc.gov">{{cite web|url=https://www.fjc.gov/history/judges/duff-brian-barnett|title=Duff, Brian Barnett - Federal Judicial Center|website=www.fjc.gov}}</ref><ref>'Illinois Blue Book 1975-1976,' Biographical Sketch of Brian B. Duff, pg. 72</ref>

==Federal judicial service==

On August 1, 1985, Duff was nominated by President Ronald Reagan to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, to a new seat created by 98 Stat. 333.<ref>Davidson, Jean (July 31, 1985). "Reagan taps Judge Duff for federal bench." ''Chicago Tribune''.</ref> He was confirmed by the United States Senate 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.<ref name="fjc.gov" />

==Personal life==

Duff was married to Florence Buckley in 1953. They had six children. Duff died on February 25, 2016.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/brian-duff-obituary?pid=1000000177862449 | title=Honorable Brian Barnett Duff Obituary | publisher=Legacy.com | date=February 25, 2016 | access-date=April 2, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tributes.com/obituary/show/Brian-Barnett-Duff-103340190|title=Brian Duff Obituary - Wilmette, Illinois - Tributes.com|website=www.tributes.com}}</ref> Duff's grandmother was Julia Harrington Duff, the first Irish Catholic woman elected to the Boston School Committee, in 1901.<ref>Polly Welts Kaufman, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Zsu-2uBsc9YC&dq=Julia+Harrington+Duff&pg=PA165 "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). {{ISBN|9781558490055}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{FJC Bio|655|nid=1380226|name=Brian Barnett Duff<!--(1930–2016)-->}}

{{s-start}} {{s-legal}} {{s-bef|before=Seat established by 98 Stat. 333}} {{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois}}|years=1985–1996}} {{s-aft|after=Ronald A. Guzman}} {{s-end}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duff, Brian Barnett}} Category:1930 births Category:2016 deaths Category:Lawyers from Dallas Category:Military personnel from Texas Category:Members of the Illinois House of Representatives Category:Illinois state court judges Category:Judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Category:United States district court judges appointed by Ronald Reagan Category:University of Notre Dame alumni Category:DePaul University College of Law alumni Category:United States Navy officers Category:Burials at All Saints Cemetery (Des Plaines, Illinois)