John Duff
PARTNER
Background
Mr. Duff earned his law degree from St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio, Texas, after graduating Presidential Scholar from Texas A&M University-Commerce. While pursuing his Juris Doctorate degree, Mr. Duff was involved in St. Mary’s School of Law’s External Mock Trial Advocacy Program.
Mr. Duff received numerous awards for his trial advocacy skills, including Best Defense Advocate at the Capital City Challenge in Washington, D.C. He was also the leader of the team that brought St. Mary’s its first national invitational championship from the William Daniel National Invitational Mock Trial Competition in Atlanta, Georgia.
For his relentless dedication and performance on the St. Mary’s Mock Trial team, Mr. Duff was inducted into the Order of the Barristers National Honor Society in April of 2016.
While earning his Juris Doctorate degree and competing for the St. Mary’s Mock Trial team, Mr. Duff also gained extensive real-world practice experience clerking for three criminal defense attorneys in San Antonio specializing in federal and state criminal law and juvenile law.
Practice
John C. Duff joined Perkins & Perkins Law in June 2025. He is based in Dallas, Texas, and works throughout the state of Texas, focusing his practice exclusively on personal injury and wrongful death litigation.
Mr. Duff provides aggressive advocacy on behalf of clients who have been harmed as the direct result of the negligence of other persons or entities. The types of cases he has worked on throughout his career have included premises liability, motor vehicle collisions, oil field accidents, and defective automotive product liability cases. Mr. Duff has been able to recover significant amounts of compensation for his clients through jury awards after lengthy trials as well as through his negotiation of favorable settlement agreements with defendants and their liability insurance providers. In order to stay abreast of current developments in his field of practice and to forge connections with fellow attorneys, he is a member of several professional organizations.
Mr. Duff has a passion for relentlessly pursuing justice on behalf of his clients. He is a strong believer in holding corporations, individuals, and their insurance companies accountable for the serious injuries caused to his clients. Mr. Duff has successfully represented severely injured plaintiffs as well as the surviving family members of men and women who have been killed as a result of corporate negligence and defective products.
Furthermore, Mr. Duff’s legal accomplishments have been recognized by his peers. Mr. Duff was named a Rising Star by Texas SuperLawyers 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025.
Experience
John Duff and Jared Perkins recently settled a wrongful death and paralysis injury case involving a used tire for $4,180,000.00. This case was pursued relentlessly for years by Mr. Duff and Jared Perkins to uncover the truth about the used tire industry and ultimately found coverage to ensure our clients were compensated for the horrific and life-altering crash.
In October of 2021, Mr. Duff and Jared Perkins secured an $18,111,232.00 verdict for our client, who was injured on a construction site and sustained a serious arm injury. A Nueces County jury awarded him $15.8 million in actual damages and $2.3 million in punitive damages. Prior to the trial, the defendants denied liability and made no settlement offer.
In December of 2019, Mr. Duff tried a case involving wrongful death in a premises liability action against I&R Trucking. Our client was the widow of Juan Perez, a trucker and handyman, who died after falling through a roof after his employer asked him to replace a rooftop skylight. Despite the employer’s knowledge of the dangerous hazard, which had existed on the roof for years prior to the incident, the employer willfully failed to provide Mr. Perez with any fall protection training, instruction, or equipment.
The jury in San Patricio County, Texas, a notoriously conservative county, unanimously agreed that I&R Trucking was grossly negligent for its callous disregard for the safety and welfare of its employee. After only three days of trial, the jury returned a record-breaking $18 million verdict, including $10 million in punitive damages. The verdict remains the single largest wrongful death verdict in a premises liability case in the history of San Patricio County, Texas.
In September of 2019, Mr. Duff tried a case in Dallas County for an injured man who was hit by a drunk driver operating a company vehicle. The jury returned a verdict of $1,250,000.00, including $1 million in punitive damages.
In 2019, Mr. Duff was part of the trial team in a product liability case against Yamaha Golf-Car Company, involving a golf cart that tipped over on a child, causing a severe traumatic brain injury. After four weeks of trial, the jury verdict returned a verdict of $33 million in damages.
Mr. Duff also represented the family of Nahje Flowers in a wrongful death case against the NCAA and the University of New Mexico for the tragic and untimely death of a young student-athlete. Recently, Mr. Duff successfully argued against the NCAA‘s attempt to challenge the court’s personal jurisdiction in New Mexico federal court.
Mr. Duff has extensive experience in several areas of personal injury and wrongful death litigation, including the high-profile wrongful death Zeke Upshaw litigation against the NBA and Detroit Pistons.
Memberships
- Texas Trial Lawyers Association
- Dallas Bar Association
- Dallas Trial Lawyers Association
- American Association for Justice
- Southern Trial Lawyers Association
- Super Lawyers Rising Star, 2021-2025
- Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch 2024
- National Trial Lawyers – Top 40 under 40
- Order of the Barristers National Honor Society, 2016
Bar & Court Admissions
- State Bar of Texas, 2017
- United States District Court, Southern District of Texas
