Barnes & Thornburg Expands Chicago Office

CHICAGO - Barnes & Thornburg LLP announced today that Mark L. Durbin has joined the firm’s Chicago office as a partner in the Litigation Department. Previously, Durbin worked in the Chicago office of Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP.

“Mark’s depth of experience in all types of complex commercial and intellectual property litigation will enhance the firm’s high-profile and nimble litigation capabilities in Chicago,” said Mark Rust, Managing Partner of the firm’s Chicago office. “Barnes & Thornburg is now one hundred attorneys strong in Chicago. We are extremely pleased to have an attorney of his caliber join us.”

Durbin is a trial lawyer who regularly represents national and international clients in intellectual property and complex commercial litigation disputes and consumer class actions. He has tried cases in courts around the country involving patent infringement, breach of contract, breach of warranty, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, theft of trade secrets, defamation, and product liability.

“Mark adds talent and trial experience to our expanding commercial litigation practice,” said Bill McErlean, chair of Barnes & Thornburg’s Litigation Department. “It's his sophisticated skills in handling complicated IT and IP commercial litigation matters that will be invaluable to our clients.”

About Mark Durbin

Durbin regularly defends businesses in class actions around the United States, with a particular focus on consumer fraud, consumer protection, false advertising and breach of warranty claims.

He has also counseled clients on issues related to their customer and supplier relationships, contract terms and conditions, advertising practices and business process improvements to reduce potential exposure.

He has also been involved in commercial disputes concerning a wide-variety of topics, such as breach of contract, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, distributorship disputes, shareholder disputes, covenants not to compete and defamation.

Held in high esteem by his colleagues and clients, Durbin was selected to appear in Chicago Lawyer and Chicago Daily Law Bulletin’s prestigious “40 Under Forty” list—a compilation of Illinois’ finest young attorneys—and has been repeatedly selected as an Illinois Super Lawyer by Law & Politics magazine.

Durbin received his J.D. from DePaul University and B.A. from the University of Illinois.

With more than 600 attorneys and other legal professionals, Barnes & Thornburg is one of the largest law firms in the country. The firm serves clients worldwide from its offices in Atlanta, Delaware, Chicago, Indiana, Los Angeles, Michigan, Minneapolis, Ohio, and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit us online at www.btlaw.com. You can also follow us on Twitter @BTLawNews.