Venerable and lauded Chicago lawyer Thomas Durkin has died after a very brief illness at age 78.
Durkin was an advocate for constitutional justice and worked on behalf of thousands of criminal defendants who were charged with terrorism, drug violations, fraud and myriad crimes in cases filed by state and federal authorities in Chicago and around the world.
He often used his full name, Thomas Anthony Durkin, to differentiate himself from the many other Tom Durkin’s in the legal world, but nobody was like this Tom Durkin.
Known for his long hair cascading over his collar, a knotted necktie usually around a blue, white-collared dress shirt and, most of all, his uniquely shaped and colored ever-present moustache, Durkin was a fixture at the federal courthouse in Chicago, often see holding court for news reporters following a big case.
“He was incredibly talented and very persevering,” his friend and former boss Dan Webb, the famed U.S. Attorney in Chicago from 1981-85, told NBC Chicago. “I believe when we gave him a bone, he would go for it, and he was really just a very persevering prosecutor that ended up bringing some very big cases.”
In fact, the two were involved in a “major case together right now,” Webb said Monday.
“Just because of his personality and because he’s so detailed oriented, and he gets to the bottom of everything, he often gets the result that he wants for his client,” Webb said. “And look, we became very, very close friends over the years. I consider very, very close. And he’s what I call my favorite cause-lawyer. Tom was always latching on to causes. It might be people in prison, somewhere or wherever he” was. I would call him up, say, ‘What cause are you on today Durkin?’ And I always, I just admired him from that.”
Webb said he received a call from Durkin a few weeks ago. It would be the beginning of the end.
“He was coughing. I said, ‘You need to see a doctor.’ I meant that,” Webb said. “The next thing I knew, he was at Northwestern hospital, diagnosed with lung cancer as I understand it. And it went very quickly.”
Webb said that Durkin’s family, including one son who works as an attorney at Webb’s firm, Winston and Strawn, gathered around their ailing patriarch.
Because the illness was so sudden, and progressed to quickly, there was little time for Durkin to end his life the way he practiced it: big, bold and direct.
“Went in like three weeks ago to check out a cough, and he found out it was lung cancer…” said Durkin’s friend and colleague Ron Safer.
Safer was an assistant U.S. Attorney after Durkin left the office, and the two men found themselves on opposing sides of major cases. It was Safer for the government and Durkin against the government… or more precisely, for his criminal defendant.
“Tom was as fierce and fearless a lawyer as you would ever want to see. His client was always innocent, and Tom believed that to his core,” said Safer. “There are some lawyers who will fight like the dickens in trial and then have a beer afterwards and say, ‘You (prosecutors) got the right guy.’ That wasn’t Tom,” Safer said. “His client was innocent, and he believed it with a burning passion, and that passion showed in court.”
Durkin graduated from Chicago’s Leo High School in 1964, where he received its lifetime achievement award a few years ago, celebrating Durkin as a “crusader for justice.”
He attended University of Notre Dame and became a life-long supporter of all things Irish. His law degree was from the University of San Francisco, but Chicago was always front and center for Durkin. His office, his casework, his family and his wife were all in Chicago. Janice Roberts became his law partner and his life partner.
The thoughtful attorney who was sought out and sought after by accused criminals from coast-to-coast, represented numerous men and women accused of terrorism, including some housed at the Guantanamo prison camp in Cuba following the 9/11 attacks.
“Tom believed in the Constitution. He believed in it when he was a prosecutor, and he believed in it when he was a defense attorney, and as a defense attorney, he was always on the side of the little guy, the guy who was being persecuted in his mind by the government,” Safer said. “He believed that the government was unfairly investigating them and unfairly charged them. Whether or not that’s right, Tom believed it, and he acted on his belief.”
Durkin was a fiery and fierce advocate for his clients in court, often crafting pointed arguments that resonated with juries and judges. His manner and mannerisms were not the subject of law school classes.
“No, you don’t learn in law school what Tom had,” Safer said. “Tom was somebody who could speak to anybody and when Tom spoke to somebody, you didn’t know if it was the chief judge of the courthouse or the people who were sweeping up after court. He treated everybody with the same respect and dignity that they would love to be treated.”
“For 40 years on the defense side he’s always successful, because when he gets a case, he does not let him go until he’s got the result he wanted. And I call it-he’s just got dogged determination, and it’s one of his strengths,” Webb said.
Hence then, the article about legendary lawyer and chicagoan tom durkin dies at 78 after very short illness was published today ( ) and is available on NBC Chicago ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Legendary lawyer and Chicagoan Tom Durkin dies at 78 after very short illness )
Also on site :
- Disgraced former Centinela Valley schools Superintendent Jose Fernandez dies
- Tyler Perry Sued for Sexual Assault By New Accuser, an Actor in a ‘Madea’ Movie
- New law revives dormant plans for solar plant near Mojave National Preserve