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The Loyola University Chicago community mourns the death of Thomas Durkin, JD, Distinguished Practitioner in Residence in the School of Law, who passed away on July 21, 2025. Durkin was a nationally known trial lawyer specializing in the defense of complex federal criminal matters.  

At the School of Law, Durkin was co-founder and co-director of the National Security and Civil Rights Program, and he taught the courses Prosecuting and Defending Terrorism and National Security Law alongside Joseph Ferguson.  

Early in his career, Durkin served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois under United States Attorneys Thomas P. Sullivan (JD ’52) and Dan K. Webb (JD ‘70), his time focused on the investigation and prosecution of major white-collar fraud and political corruption cases. He also led the investigation and prosecution of the first federal criminal civil rights open housing case in the Chicago area, which involved a racially motivated bombing in Burnham, Illinois.  

Over a five-decade career, Durkin was a tireless advocate for his clients, becoming nationally known for taking on controversial defendants other attorneys would pass on representing and challenging government overreach on complex issues involving terrorism investigations, corruption, electronic surveillance, and civil rights. Durkin’s career was propelled by the belief that all defendants, no matter their alleged crime or people’s perception of them, were entitled to a thorough defense and to the protection of their constitutionally afforded civil rights.    

“I used to tell him he was my favorite ‘cause’ lawyer,” said Dan K. Webb to AP News this week. “When he got committed to a cause, he would not stop until he accomplished his goal.”    

"Tom's professional work epitomized our mission statement,” said John Dehn, associate professor of law and co-founder of the National Security and Civil Rights Program. “He brought endless enthusiasm to everything he did as well as wisdom that could come only from decades of practical experience. Whether co-teaching courses or speaking in a wide range of national security related programming, Tom was an extraordinarily effective teacher in part because he was also a lifelong learner, never short of insights from something he had recently read."  

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Leo High School.  

A visitation will be held on Monday, July 28, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Union League Club of Chicago, 65 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, IL 60604. 

A funeral Mass will be held on Tuesday, July 29, 10 a.m. at Chicago's Old St. Patrick's Church, 700 West Adams Street, Chicago, IL 60661. 

Please keep his family and friends, and all of the lives he touched in your thoughts and prayers.