JIM DURKIN
Partner

Jim Durkin is an attorney in Croke Fairchild’s Public Finance and Government Affairs & Regulatory Law practice groups.

Jim advises local governments on economic development and public finance matters. He is also an experienced commercial litigator and conducts internal investigations for private and public entities.

In 2021, as Illinois House of Representatives Republican Leader, Jim helped pass Governor Pritzker’s first budget and the state’s largest public works program. That same year, his work on legislation banning the use of deception during the interrogation of minors earned him the University of Illinois “Defender of the Innocent Award.” This law, developed in collaboration with the University of Illinois Innocence Project and the Northwestern Center on Wrongful Convictions, was the first of its kind in the United States. From 2013 to 2023, Jim served as the minority leader in the Illinois House of Representatives. During this time, he championed policies that had a direct impact on the lives of Illinoisans, including requiring Medicaid to cover continuous glucose monitors and removing the cap on coverage of test strips for low-income individuals with Type 1 diabetes—a change he successfully negotiated directly with the Department of Health and Family Services. Jim also spearheaded and passed legislation which significantly regulates the use of ethylene oxide (EO) in the manufacturing process. This legislation was prompted by the Sterigenics contamination in Willowbrook Illinois.

In 2012, he served as House manager for the removal of Rep. Derrick Smith from the Illinois House following Smith’s federal bribery indictment. In 2008, Jim was the ranking Republican on the Illinois House Impeachment Committee during the proceedings against Governor Rod Blagojevich. Earlier in his career, he was the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2002 and held key legal roles as an assistant Illinois attorney general and as an assistant Cook County state’s attorney, where he served as a felony trial prosecutor and special prosecutor in the Narcotics Bureau.

Jim has been active in Illinois state politics for more than 25 years, having served as state representative in the Illinois House of Representatives first for the 44th District and formerly represented the 82nd District. He was also the Illinois chair for the late Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaigns in 2000 and 2008.

Jim is on various boards including Misericordia-Heart of Mercy Home, Illinois Charter School Network, Illinois Holocaust and Genocide Commission, and JDRF Illinois. He is also a member of the 100 Club of Chicago, which supports the families of fallen first responders.

In 2021, Jim worked in a bi-partisan manner to negotiate and pass Governor J.B. Pritzker’s first budget and the largest public works program in Illinois history.

Jim serves on various boards for Misericordia-Heart of Mercy Home, Giant Steps School for Autism, and JDRF Illinois. He is a member of the 100 Club of Chicago, which supports the families of fallen first responders. He is also a former member of the John Marshall Law School Board of Trustees and the Chicago Bar Association Board of Managers.