Charles J. Griffin, 62, of Hinsdale, a lawyer known for his encyclopedic knowledge of labor law, died Thursday, Jan. 25, in Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago. Mr. Griffin had studied to become a priest but decided instead to apply to the University of Notre Dame Law School. The school awarded him a full scholarship, and he graduated first in his class in 1963. He spent two decades with Seyfarth, Shaw, Fairweather and Geraldson before co-founding the firm Matkov, Griffin, Parsons, Salzman and Madoff. Mr. Griffin left in 1987 to become a partner in Wildman, Harrold, Allen and Dixon, where he remained until his retirement in 1999. Mr. Griffin specialized in employment law, focusing on discrimination, labor contracts and arbitration, union representation elections and collective bargaining. Despite the often contentious nature of his work, Mr. Griffin was a respected adversary, made even more so by his photographic memory. He was a member of the board of directors at Illinois Forge Inc. of Rock Falls, Ill.; Notre Dame’s Law School Order of St. Thomas More; and the Brotherhood of St. Andrew, an Episcopal men’s fellowship and philanthropic organization. Mr. Griffin was active in vestry, the bridge club and book group at All Saints Church in Western Springs. Mr. Griffin, a golfer, also took up piano at age 49. Survivors include his wife, Nancy; three sons, Matthew, John and Charles III; two daughters, Catherine Ilyavi and Mary Kantor; his mother, Sarah; a sister, Therese Guzaitis; three brothers, Robert, John and Joseph; and five grandchildren. Services were held Jan. 29.
