Irving M. Friedman

(1918-2004)

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  Experience     Irving M. Friedman was a practicing labor relations and employment law attorney for more than 50 years at the firm which he founded with Harold Katz in 1953. Irving and Harold met when they were opposing each other as counsel in a labor relations case back in the early 1950s. Irving was then a senior trial attorney for the National Labor Relations Board. It didn't take long for their mutual respect gained during this trial to turn into a working arrangement that translated into 50 years of partnership. He said it worked well because he and Harold jointly shared an interest in speaking on behalf to working people.

Irving represented unions in manufacturing maritime, longshoring, education, communications, airlines and government. He was a frequent lecturer and writer on labor law issues. He was inducted into the Hall of Honor of the Illinois Labor History Society, and is also a fellow at the College of Labor and Employment Attorneys. As one of the lead counsel in a class action discrimination case, Irving helped the plaintiffs win what was at that time the largest such settlement in the history of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. He is a former Labor Member on the Board of Review at the Illinois Department of Labor and was a member of the Governor's Commission on Labor Laws that helped to develop IELRA and ILRA.

Irving graduated with a degree in liberal arts from City College of New York and received his law degree from New York University Law School. He is a former chairman of the Labor Law Committee of the Chicago Bar Association. When he wasn't working, Irving spent his time reading, playing golf, fishing, following baseball, and traveling. He lived in Hyde Park with his wife, Abigail, and is survived by her and two grown sons and three grandchildren.