Kevin P. Durkin has distinguished himself as one of Chicago's leading personal injury attorneys. Mr. Durkin has been named a top tier attorney in 2010 by U.S.News-Best Lawyers in the area of personal injury litigation based upon peer reviews and his legal ability, professionalism and integrity. As a partner at Clifford Law Offices, Kevin P. Durkin has obtained numerous large jury verdicts and settlements in state and federal courts. He is one of our aviation attorneys who concentrates in complex aviation litigation and has taken literally hundreds of depositions of aviation experts and airline corporate executives in a search for the truth in aircraft disasters.

Mr. Durkin served as lead plaintiff ’s co-counsel in federal district court where a $110 million settlement was negotiated for a number of families in the American Airlines Flight 4184 crash in Roselawn, Indiana. He also served as one of three members of the Management Committee leading the complex litigation in the tragedy of Alaska Air Flight 261 that crashed in the Pacific Ocean in 2000 en route to Seattle from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Mr. Durkin took dozens of depositions including those of the top engineers in the case against the airline and Boeing, despite the NTSB giving the corporate giant a virtual pass. Mr. Durkin obtained more than $40 million in settlements on behalf of seven families who lost loved ones, including two of the largest of the 90 settled in that mass disaster litigation. Mr. Durkin also was very active on behalf of several families of the passengers of American Airlines Flight 587 that crashed in Queens, New York on Nov. 12, 2002, as well as on the Steering Committee of the crash of Singapore Air Flight 006. He represented the family of Joshua Woods, the six-year-old boy who was killed when a Southwest jetliner crashed into his family’s car after skidding off the runway at Midway Airport in December, 2005. He also represents several families in the February 12, 2009 tragedy involving the crash of a Colgan Air commuter aircraft near Buffalo, New York. He represented several families in the August 27, 2006 tragedy involving a Comair plane in Lexington, Kentucky. Kevin Durkin has also represented victims of many small plane crashes. For example, he handled the case involving the crash of Bob Collins, WGN radio’s most popular disc jockey, who was killed when a small plane crashed into his as he was landing in the Chicago area. In 2007, the judge in that case entered an award for the maximum coverage by the insurance, nearly $1 million. Mr. Durkin also received a $4.1 million settlement in October, 2001, on behalf of a photographer killed in a helicopter crash in northwest suburban Chicago.

As an aviation accident attorney, Mr. Durkin has represented a number of individuals who have been injured and the families of those who have died in aviation accidents, involving several different kinds of general aviation aircraft and helicopters. He also serves as Vice Chair of the American Bar Association’s TIPS Aviation Section which works to inform aviation attorneys around the country of the latest in aviation law.

Kevin Durkin is successful in the area of transportation litigation, having served as Co-Lead Counsel in the litigation involving the crash of an Amtrak train in Bourbonnais, Illinois, and other railroad accidents. He also obtained a $38.3 million verdict in 2004 on behalf of a west suburban family who was involved in a trucking accident. That verdict was profiled in the National Law Journal in 2005 and was recognized as the largest in the country involving a motor vehicle accident that year.

Mr. Durkin served as Co-Chair of the Aviation Committee of the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Litigation for four years where he presented programs and seminars for aviation attorneys and experts from across the country. He brought together the best and the brightest in a nationally recognized seminar in New York. He was President of the 22,000-member Chicago Bar Association in 2006-07 and served as Co-Chair of the ABA’s Mass Torts Litigation Committee. He also was appointed to the Aviation Law Institute at DePaul University College of Law, a newly created Advisory Board of aviation lawyers and experts from around the world.

Clifford Law Offices is proud of Kevin Durkin’s distinguished career and of his exemplary accomplishments, both inside and out of the courtroom.