Brian Barnett Duff
Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1985 and confirmed by voice vote, Brian Barnett Duff was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. He earned a law degree from DePaul University College of Law in 1962. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Lived
- 1930–2016
- Appointed by
- Ronald Reagan, 1985
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- University of Notre Dame 1953 · DePaul College of Law 1962
- Succeeded by
- Ronald A. Guzman
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Northern District of Illinois | Reagan (R) | Voice vote |
Party letters show the appointing president’s party, not the judge’s own. A voice vote means the chamber approved aloud. No senator-by-senator tally is recorded.
Confirmation vote
Voice vote
The Senate approved this confirmation aloud, with no senator-by-senator tally recorded. Recorded roll-call votes begin in 1989.
Education
| University of Notre Dame | A.B. | 1953 |
| DePaul University College of Law | J.D. | 1962 |
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Duff was assigned 2,011 district-court cases (1981–1996). Median time from filing to termination: 119 days across 2,011 closed cases.
Case assignment is from CourtListener’s PACER-derived docket records: a partial sample, not a complete caseload, reflecting the judge last assigned each case. How we count.
In our data, Duff authored 275 published opinions for the court (1986–1997). Most cited: Rose v. Franchetti (50 citations).
A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included. Counts and rankings are objective and recomputable: how we count. We describe the record, not the judge.
Recent & notable rulings
| Year | Case | Citation | Cited |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Rose v. Franchetti | 713 F. Supp. 1203 | 50 |
| 1991 | Weiss v. Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Chicago | 772 F. Supp. 407 | 34 |
| 1994 | Spex, Inc. v. Joy of Spex, Inc. | 847 F. Supp. 567 | 31 |
| 1989 | Pucci v. Santi | 711 F. Supp. 916 | 30 |
| 1992 | Federal Trade Commission v. US Sales Corp. | 785 F. Supp. 737 | 29 |
| 1992 | Sws Financial Fund a v. Salomon Bros. Inc. | 790 F. Supp. 1392 | 28 |
| 1991 | Van Schouwen v. Connaught Corp. | 782 F. Supp. 1240 | 26 |
| 1990 | Matilla v. Radco Merchandising Services, Inc. (In Re Radco Merchandising Services, Inc.) | 111 B.R. 684 | 24 |
| 1989 | Keppler v. Hinsdale Township High School District 86 | 715 F. Supp. 862 | 24 |
| 1990 | Novak v. Lorenz (In Re Novak) | 116 B.R. 626 | 19 |
| 1988 | Barnett v. Stern | 93 B.R. 962 | 19 |
| 1996 | Nobelpharma AB v. Implant Innovations, Inc. | 930 F. Supp. 1241 | 18 |
| 1989 | English v. General Development Corp. | 717 F. Supp. 628 | 18 |
| 1997 | Barnett v. City of Chicago | 952 F. Supp. 1265 | 17 |
| 1986 | Steinberg v. Illinois Co. Inc. | 635 F. Supp. 615 | 17 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 275 authored opinions in our data. “Cited” is inbound citations across the CourtListener corpus. Case links open the ruling’s full text (CourtListener) or its page here; read the methodology and verify against the primary source.
Questions & answers
- Who appointed Brian Barnett Duff?
- President Ronald Reagan appointed Brian Barnett Duff to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in 1985.
- Was Brian Barnett Duff appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Brian Barnett Duff was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Brian Barnett Duff's confirmation vote?
- Brian Barnett Duff was confirmed by voice vote on October 16, 1985. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court was Brian Barnett Duff on?
- Brian Barnett Duff was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- Wikidata
- CourtListener bulk data (Free Law Project): authored opinions & citation counts
How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources
See something wrong? Report an error. Fixes are logged in the corrections log.
30 years on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).