Hon. Thomas P. Durkin, (Ret.) is a skilled mediator and arbitrator known for his creative settlements in resolving complex matters. Judge Durkin has extensive experience in complex, multi-party, business/commercial, contract disputes, insurance, class action, construction, real estate and personal injury matters.

ADR Experience and Qualifications

• Since joining ADR Systems of America in December 2001, he has served exclusively as a neutral and has successfully conducted more than 1,000 mediations and arbitrations.

• His 22-year judicial career focused on commercial, civil and criminal litigation and case resolution (seven years in Chancery, nine years in Criminal and six years in the 6th Municipal District). While in Chancery, Judge Durkin conducted more than 100 settlement conferences with a 90% settlement rate.

• Successful resolution of the following types of cases:
  • Business/Commercial: As a trial judge and mediator, Judge Durkin has resolved numerous partnership and corporate disputes including law firm and medical practice dissolutions, as well as shareholder disputes
     
  • Environmental: Complex matter involving groundwater contamination
     
  • Intellectual Property: Dispute over brand name ownership
     
  • Securities: Matters involving alleged “churning” of accounts
     
  • Franchise:  Interpretation of agreements and enforcement
     
  • Real Estate:  Development, leasehold and condominium disputes
     
  • Construction: Matters involving all types of structures (residential, commercial, industrial and medical), developers, general contractors, subcontractors, design professionals, insurers, bonding companies, public and private owners, along with defect work, design, claims for delay damages and extras, allocation, and insurance coverage
     
  • Insurance: As both a judge and a mediator, Judge Durkin has handled in excess of fifty insurance coverage matters
     
  • Class Actions: While in chancery, Judge Durkin handled several class action matters, from pre-certification, through trial and resolution, and he has mediated a complex toxic site class action
     
  • Employment: Wrongful discharge actions, sexual harassment, breach of contract, non-compete covenants, anti-strike injunction cases and shareholder employment disputes
     
  • Personal Injury: As a mediator, Judge Durkin has settled hundreds of personal injury matters including catastrophic injuries and wrongful death, automobile accident, slip and fall, products liability cases, toxic tort litigation, and dog bite cases
     
  • Accounting Malpractice
     
  • Legal Malpractice
     

• Partner at Ackerman, Durkin & Egan, general litigation and appellate practice

• Assistant State’s Attorney, Cook County

Representative Matters

• Chrysler class action involving claims in excess of 1 billion dollars
• Caterpillar insurance coverage dispute involving “toxic sites” and multimillion dollar claims and multi-jurisdictional coverage
• City of Chicago “Home Rule” case challenging the application of home rule coverage
• Weber Grill intellectual property litigation involving ownership of “Weber” website name
• Orlando Sentinel environmental case involving multi-million dollar claims resulting from TCE water contamination
• Public Works Projects including contracts, construction and design defects cases
• Toxic tort wrongful death multi-million dollar settlement          

Honors, Memberships and Professional Activities

• Leading Lawyer in the categories of “ADR Law: Commercial Litigation” and “ADR Law: Personal Injury,” 2012
• “Certificate of Distinction,” National Judicial College, Five-Year Faculty Award
• “Certificate of Appreciation,” North Dakota Bar Association
• “Certificate of Appreciation,” Chicago Bar Association
• “Certificate of Performance,” American Bar Association
• “Service Award,” Illinois Supreme Court, Chairmanship–Pattern Jury Instruction Committee
• Faculty: National Judicial College, Reno, NV; Loyola Law School, Chicago, IL; Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education, Chicago, IL
• Lecturer: North Dakota Bench/Bar Conference, Bismarck, ND; Chicago Bar Association, Trial Techniques Seminar; Associate Judge Annual Seminars; Association of Trial Lawyers of America, Trial Advocacy Program; Federal Trial Skills Program, IICLE; Illinois Supreme Court, Regional Seminars; The John Marshall Law School, Chicago, IL 

Admissions

• Illinois, 1967
• California, 1973
• Florida, 1971
• U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, 1967
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, 1975
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, 1971
• U.S. Supreme Court, 1973

Background and Education

• JD, Loyola University of Chicago School of Law, 1967
• BS, Political Science, Loyola University of Chicago, 1964