Brian Barnett Duff (from the October, 1991 evaluation)

Judge Duff, 61, was appointed by President Reagan in 1985, on the recommendation of Senator Charles H. Percy. He graduated from DePaul University School of Law in 1962. Judge Duff held various corporate positions, before going into law practice in 1969. Judge Duff was an active participant in Republican politics, and ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for Illinois Secretary of State in 1968. He was briefly a special assistant Illinois attorney general. He then served from 1971 to 1976 as a state representative, and was chairman of the House Judiciary Committee for two years. In 1976, he was elected to the Circuit Court of Cook County, where he served in the Criminal, Law, and Chancery Divisions.

Judge Duff's situation is unfortunate. He came to the bench with substantial experience, knows how to conduct a trial, and seems to have at least adequate legal abilities. He can be charming, and usually is off the bench. He can be effective at settlement conferences in chambers. He is extremely hard-working and takes his job very seriously. His written opinions are adequate.

However, Judge Duff's temperament is totally unacceptable for a federal judge. He can be smiling and at ease when his motion call begins, and be screaming at lawyers, without any good cause, within minutes. He can berate lawyers for the way they stand and other slights -- real or imagined -- that no one else has noticed. Lawyers report that Judge Duff can take out his pique on clients, by vindictively favoring one side or another to litigation. On other occasions, he will take it out on both sides. His temperament at trial often is fine, but he can have extreme outbursts against one side or the other even at trial.

Judge Duff's outbursts go far beyond the range of irascibility that judges sometimes show towards lawyers. The frequency, unpredictability, and severity of the outbursts go beyond the ability of the Council to provide an explanation. Lawyers report that his temperament affects his judgment.

Some lawyers report that the only way to avoid Judge Duff's ire is to grovel and constantly flatter him. Others report that Judge Duff's ire is directed more frequently at young, less prominent attorneys, but can strike at any one.

A separate problem about Judge Duff is periodic complaints of insensitive statements about minorities in his early years on the District Court. He received a private reprimand from former Chief Judge Cummings for one such comment. While most lawyers do not believe he is actually unfair to litigants or attorneys of any race, the occasional reports of lack of sensitivity reflect behavior that is totally inappropriate.

Because of Judge Duff's temperament, many lawyers do not want to keep their cases before him. As a result, his low docket may be as much or more a byproduct of his temperament, than a reflection of his abilities.

Because Judge Duff's temperament problems appear to affect his decision-making, they are of the most serious nature.