Brian Barnett Duff

Brian Barnett Duff (September 15, 1930 – February 25, 2016) was a United States federal judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Duff was born in Dallas, Texas as the third of ten children.
He received an A.B. from the University of Notre Dame in 1953 and received a J.D. from DePaul University College of Law in 1962.
Duff was in the United States Navy Lieutenant, JAG Corps from 1953 to 1956 and served in the U.S. Naval Reserve from 1957 to 1961. He was an Assistant to C.E.O., Banker's Life and Casualty from 1962 to 1967. For a year Duff was a Vice president and general counsel, R. H. Gore Co. from 1968 to 1969 and 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 judge on 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.

Duff was a federal judge on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. On August 1, 1985, Duff was nominated by President Ronald Reagan to a new seat created by 98 Stat. 333. He was later confirmed by the United States Senate on October 16, 1985, and received his commission on October 17, 1985. He took senior status due to a certified disability on October 30, 1996.

Brian Duff was married to Florence Buckley in 1953. They had their first child, Ellen, in 1955, and had four sons (Brian, Roderick, Kevin, and Daniel) in the following years. Duff died on February 25, 2016.

Judge Duff's grandmother was Julia Harrington Duff, the first Irish Catholic woman elected to the Boston School Committee, in 1901.