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I know I've got a captive audience because nobody's gonna leave while I'm speaking. Great pass on that comment. Uh, I really like to thank Steve Cartman for the inspiration for this dinner tonight. He is. This is the best attended legendary dinner we have ever had bar

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none, and I think it's all due to our special honoree tonight to Judge Liland, we'd like to thank him for all possible. Thank you. Burt Lifflin has honored the law and the profession of law for many years. Tonight it's our privilege to honor him. Measured by

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distinguished tenure on the bench, measured by cumulative importance of his judicial decisions, measured by his prominence in matters of international insolvency law, and measured by his humanity and goodwill, Judge Burton R. Lifland is preeminent among United States bankruptcy judges of this generation. Judge Lifland has served

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as a bankruptcy judge in the Southern District of New York in New York City since 1980. For many years he served as chief judge of this court, which is the most important bankruptcy court in the United States in matters of international insolvency. Chief Judge Arthur Gonzalez

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says of Judge Lifland, quote, he is an inspiration and a mentor to all of the judges on this court. We are truly motivated by Judge Lifland's enthusiasm and love of the job. We all marvel at how excited he is to come to work day in and

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day out. Judge Lifland is a founding member of the International Insolvency Institute. In some, in matters of cross-border cooperation, Judge Lifland is a well-known pioneer. In matters of innovative judicial administration, Judge Lifland has been a leader in developing electronic filing, court approved mediation resources, and consistent

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professional fee standards. When challenged by others on some of these innovations, Judge Lifland was not bothered. And was heard to say When you raise your head above the crowd, expect to get shot at. I cannot confirm the rumor that Judge Lifland doesn't suffer fools lightly. I've

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never Seen anyone act insufferably in his presence, I can, however, subscribe from my personal experience to the heartfelt statement of one of Judge Lifland's colleagues to me, quote, he is one of the least critical of other individuals of any human being, I know. The humanity, public

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spirit, and goodwill of Judge Lifland are founded in his marriage and family. Elaine and Bert have been married for 58 years. On the subject of why in the world Judge Lifland hasn't retired from the bench. Elaine says, quote, he could sit back and say I've had

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enough, but he loves life, he loves problems, and he loves challenges, close quote. I am honored to present the International Insolvency Institute's Outstanding Contributions Award to the inimitable Judge Burton R. Lifland. Thank you, Ralph. This is a rare pleasure for a speaker. I have

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a captive audience, uh, but I won't, uh, abuse that. I have no intention of keeping you sequestered here for a long period of time, so I have no fears, uh. Fellow members of the Triple I, uh, friends, colleagues, and guests, I accept this honor with deep

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appreciation, but I really, I really bask in the reflection of the extraordinary talent, dedication, and pioneering efforts of my peers on and off the bench, many of whom are present tonight. Indeed, if we were to redact my name from some of Ralph's comments, we could be

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referring to someone else here of course that would leave Elaine and our two sons struggling to find a new family identity. Anybody want them? I'm really pleased to be a part of those folks who have dedicated much of their time and skills to breaking down the

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frustratingly territorial ring fences that obstruct economic and societal resolution of difficult cross border issues. I am privileged to be among those who labored so long and hard to develop a model cross border insolvency law. And related products such as the legislative guide, the practice guide, and

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other hallmarks of our efforts to open jurisdictions to recognition of cross border proceedings. The development of protocols to ease the rough and often competing tensions among courts has brought me into contact with outstanding judicial counterparts worldwide to join in finding ways to work harmoniously where possible.

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While some courts fit the category of problem makers. Most of my counterparts fall into the category of problem solvers. Which is why I find this branch of law to be so rewarding and I can look around, uh, not only at my colleagues on the Southern District

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bench, but my colleagues from, uh, other nations who share with me, uh, the idea of coordination and cooperation, and I'm told I'm about to get a call next week from one of my colleagues sitting at the table about a mutual case between us. You will. In

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the uh parlance of award ceremonies, uh, traditional acknowledgments can be personal and forgettable. But I must recognize contributors to the field. Among others, the influential late Tina Brosman, who traveled the tricky road of the Maxwell case and it was served with me at trial and

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the ever recurring judicial colloquia. Judge Wizard Wizard torrent, Jay Westbrook, who's here tonight, John Barrett. Hal Berman, Chris Redman, Don Bernstein, Mike Siegel, and the visionary Bruce Leonard. Just to name the. But The most important acknowledgement goes not to an individual. But to a group, the

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UA trial insolvency working group known as Working Group 5. This group, together with NGOs, that's uh for those who are aware of the acronmen stands for non-governmental Organizations, of which Triple I is a leading instrumentality. Which helped develop the monologue, which is now accepted by a

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critical mass of the international community together with the mono law related products that many consider to be a collective bible for the interpretation and processing of international conflict situations. And solutions. The remarkable thing about the Inantral umbrella is its longevity. Which again is a testament to

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the existence of a unique forum that brings together disparate legal regimes, civil law, common law, and a cacophony of languages and customs that for some reason functions reasonably well together. There is an ease of familiarity among the uncontrolled participants which makes it far more productive than

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those international groups that focus on debate for the sake of debate rather than to earnestly seek common ground for solutions to economic issues. My involvement in lais affaires Internacion is based on two things. One, I've been on the bench longer than most of my judicial colleagues,

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although Ralph maybe got there before me. And uh 2. The Southern District of New York is at the intersection of world finance and commerce, making it an international default venue. Due to the uh efforts of the membership of organizations such as this one, we are beginning

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to see workable solutions to the complex difficulties facing cross border economic and business entities. Solutions are born of dire necessity. But as we see, while many problems become susceptible to workable formulae, new and previously unanticipated economic threats have arrived. I refer now to the crisis generated

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by unsustainable sovereign debt among formerly stable nations. These newly emerging sovereign debt problems are already being evaluated by some of you here, for example, I know Christoph Wallace and Steve Carman are now laboring in this vineyard and in this regard. I'm confident that the wisdom, talent,

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and energies resident in this great organization and others will bend equally to the next area of engagement. All of which makes me realize. How fortunate I am to have been put in a position to play among you in this international sandbox. I thank you for sharing

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this honor. What we didn't realize at the time was that bankruptcy was becoming something new. It was instead of being a creditor collection device, instead of being a debtor rehabilitation device it was becoming a method of implementing corporate strategy and a way of dealing with social

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problems and the history of bankruptcy from that point forward largely because of what Burt Lifland did at that time and the many other cases that he had and of course many of the other judges as well, um, it became something new. And what Judge Lifland consistently

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has done throughout his career is he has identified what's just, and he's also identified what is necessary. And somehow he's been able to accomplish doing justice and doing what is necessary and achieving outstanding results and that goes from his judicial work through his non-governmental organization work

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through his international insolvency work. Judge Lifland knows how to use the law and as we know, he also knows how to persuade. I want to thank him for all of the things, all the amazing things he does as a jurist, as a scholar, as a motivator,

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as a husband, a father, a grandfather, and I want once again to to request everyone to get up and give a round of applause to Judge Burton. Yeah.