[2] He received his Bachelor of Science degree, cum laude, from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1975.

He received his Juris Doctor degree, cum laude, from the DePaul University College of Law in 1978.

From 1980 to 1993, he served as an assistant United States attorney in the Northern District of Illinois.

From 1993 to 2012, he served as a partner at Mayer Brown LLP in Chicago, where he handled a wide variety of matters including complex commercial litigation and white collar criminal defense.

Durkin declared several potential conflicts of interest, including a past donation to Hastert's congressional campaign and past interactions with prosecutors in the case; ultimately, the attorneys did not seek his recusal.