Selected by peers as a Leading Lawyer in:
Personal Injury Law: General
Personal Injury Law: Professional Malpractice
Extensive Experience in:
Catastrophic injury
Wrongful Death
Medical Malpractice
Construction Negligence
Transportation & Premises Liability
County: Cook
Litigator: Yes
E-mail: Al.Durkin@mdr-law.com
Attorney Biography:
Albert E. Durkin has over 30 years of experience as a personal injury litigator. While seasoned in all types of personal injury litigation, he has distinguished himself in the area of complex traumatic brain injury (TBI) and psychological injuries resulting from exposure to trauma, including Postraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In the spring of 2008, Mr. Durkin negotiated a seven-figure resolution for a client who was diagnosed with PTSD following her escape from the fire that occurred in October of 2003 at the 69 W. Washington County Building. Mr. Durkin was involved integrally in the resolution of the totality of the claims that ultimately settled on the eve of trial for $100 Million.
An active member of Illinois's legal community, Mr. Durkin holds several important positions. He is currently serving his third elected term as a Cook County Representative to the Illinois State Bar Association's (ISBA) General Assembly. In addition to elected office, his ISBA service includes his appointment as Co-Chair of ISBA Judicial Evaluation Committee. Additionally, Mr. Durkin serves on the Illinois Trial Lawyer's Association's Medical Malpractice Committee.
A frequent speaker on a variety of subjects, he is consistently published in legal journals and holds an AV rating from the Martindale Hubble Company confirming his status as a highly respected and ethical member of the bar. The AV rating signifies legal abilities of the highest standard and professional ethics that are unquestioned. In addition, the Leading Lawyer Network recognizes Mr. Durkin as a leading lawyer signifying him as being within the top 5% of lawyers within the state of Illinois.
Bar Admissions:
Illinois Bar – 1977
U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois – 1977
Education:
DePaul University School of Law, J.D., 1977
Lewis University, B.A. in Public Administration, 1974
Bar/Professional Association Involvement:
Illinois State Bar Association -- Assemblyman; Judicial Evaluation Committee; American Association of Justice; Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group; Illinois Trial Lawyers Association; Medical Malpractice and Civil Practice Committees; Chicago Bar Association; Circuit Court Rules and Judiciary Committees. Additionally, Mr. Durkin served as Judge for the Student Trial Advocacy Competition in 2000, and the American Moot Trial Association Regional Competition, 2002 and 2003.
Publications:
Condition, cause AND foreseeability ( Tort Trends | April 2010, Vol. 45, No. 6 )
Notable Cases and Results:
$7,500,000 for a man who fell from a beam while constructing the U.S. Post Office sustaining a traumatic brain injury and orthopedic injuries.
$6,500,000 for a 24 year old man who was traveling northbound on McCormick Boulevard in Skokie when he entered a construction zone and collided with oncoming traffic. He sustained a traumatic brain injury.
$3,750,000 for a 16 year old girl who was a passenger in a vehicle struck by a fire truck in Kane County resulting in her sustaining a traumatic brain injury and orthopedic injuries.
$3,027,000 for a painter who was injured while doing some touch-up painting on a single family home. He was balancing on a stair banister slipped and fell into the stairwell and broke his neck leaving him a quadriplegic.
$2,000,000 for an 8 year old boy who fell from a porch due to missing banisters. He sustained a traumatic brain injury.
$1,850,000 for a woman who was trapped in a stairwell located at 69 West Washington Street after a fire ignited. She suffered from smoke inhalation and was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder.
$1,500,000 for a 68 year old toll booth operator killed when she was struck by a semi truck exiting the toll area.
$1,350,000 for a 41 year old sales manager who sustained a cervical injury when he was side swiped by a truck on Interstate 55.
$1,250,000 for a 43 year old man who was driving a tractor -trailer northbound on I-55 when he was struck by a van that had lost control heading southbound. He was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder after seeing 10 people in the van that were killed from the crash.
$1,250,000 for a 52 year old female who sustained cervical and shoulder injuries when rear ended by a semi truck on 80/94.
$1,200,000 for a 20 year old man who lost his life in a fatal car crash in Bureau County, Illinois.
$1,000,000 for the wrongful death of a 75 year old man due to negligent intubation following outpatient surgery.
$1,000,000 for a 58 year old construction worker sustaining a traumatic brain injury when he was struck in the head by a beam.
$1,000,000 for a 38 year old construction electrician who injured her shoulder during the construction of a Home Depot in Chicago Ridge.
Legal Lectures and Publications:
"Psychological Injuries (Pain and Suffering)," Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education, February 2010
"Back to Basics: Expert Disclosure 213(f)(3)," Illinois State Bar Association, January 2010
"Expert Disclosure 213(f)(3)" and "Trial Preparation," ISBA Back to Basics CLE, Jan 2010
"Technology & Demonstrative Evidence in the Courtroom," ISBA Tort Law CLE, June 2005
"Courtroom Discovering Technology," Illinois State Bar Association, June 2004
"Spoliation after Darden: Back to Boyd," ITLA Trial Journal, June 2004
"Effective Use of Request to Admit," 2004
"Increased Risk of Future Injury," Illinois State Bar Association, May 2003
"Traumatic Brian Injury Case Study," Illinois Case Management Network, April 2003
"Trying an Arbitration Case-Plaintiff's Perspective," Illinois State Bar Association, May 2002
"Catastrophic Brain Injury: A Legal Case Study and Implications for Case Managers," ATLA, March 2002
"Voir Dire," Chicago Bar Association, October 2001
"Effective Use of Paralegals," Roosevelt University, 2001
"Construction Negligence," ITLA September 1999
"Special Interrogatories," ITLA, May 1997
"Medical Malpractice Claims from the Plaintiff's Perspective," Chicagoland Health Care Risk Management Society, April 1993
See article about Al Durkin Leading Lawyers Magazine - Consumer Edition for 2011