"Obviously, I am greatly honored to be the first recipient of the American Bankruptcy Institute/Thomson West Judge William L. Norton, Jr. Judicial Excellence Award.

"While this is a humbling occasion for me, I view it as a grand occasion for Judge Norton, having this award established in perpetuity in his name.

"I have more than passing knowledge of Judge Norton's remarkable accomplishments, which this award symbolizes.

"History has it that in 1978 when the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association, meeting in Atlanta, voted against constituting the Bankruptcy Courts as Article III courts, a disappointed Judge Norton had an epiphany. He conceived of an organization such as this that might some day compete with the ABA and other organizations in influencing Congress with respect to bankruptcy legislation.

"That goal became more important when on June 28, 1982, the Supreme Court in its opinion in the Northern Pipeline case declared the provisions of the Judicial Code governing jurisdiction of the Bankruptcy Courts unconstitutional.

Judge Norton had just completed the first three volumes of his treatise, Norton on Bankruptcy Law and Practice, published in 1981. As you might imagine, the first supplement, published in 1982, dealt with the jurisdictional dilemma resulting from that decision.

"The annual meeting of the NCBJ was held in Savannah, Georgia in October of 1982. We assembled under the cloud created by the Northern Pipeline decision.

Congressman Rodino, following hearings in July, had introduced a bill which would have reconstituted the bankruptcy courts as Article III Courts.

"While we were preoccupied with our status as judges, Judge Norton had arranged for his contributing editors to arrive a few days early to work on another of his projects, preparation of the Editor's Comments to supplement the Advisory Committee Notes to the Bankruptcy Rules. This project continues even today.

At our meeting in Savannah we considered a proposal urged by Senator Bob Dole that our organization endorse a threshold test for eligibility for Chapter 7 bankruptcy relief. We rejected that proposal out of hand. The minutes indicate only five judges voted in favor of his resolution.

"We were very feisty. We also voted overwhelmingly in favor of Congressman Rodino's bill to reconstitute the bankruptcy courts as Article III courts with the knowledge we might be voting ourselves out of a job. Just after the Savannah meeting the Supreme Court extended until near Christmas the time for Congress to act before the Northern Pipeline decision would take effect.

"A few days before this deadline expired, the NCBJ counsel met with an aide to Speaker Jim Wright and told him of the chaos that might ensue if Congress failed to act. The aide said, "Hey! Who am I to believe. I just got off the phone with someone in the AO who told me there was nothing to worry about, that the Judicial Conference is going to promulgate a rule that will solve the problem, which will give Congress more time to act."

"That's why we were forced to operate under the so-called "Emergency" or "Model Rule" for a year and a half until July 10, 1984, at which time Congress postponed indefinitely the Article III problem by enacting the present system of appointing bankruptcy judges and the Core/Non-Core dichotomy. I was hoping that at some point in time during my 45 years on the bench, I would be a constitutional adjudicator, but that now seems unlikely.

"Judge Norton dealt with his frustration by creating, with the help of others, the American Bankruptcy Institute, which came into being in 1983.

The ABI has grown to a membership of 11,000 and now provides a wide range of educational programs and general information to attorneys and other bankruptcy professionals.

"Thomson/West's annual gift to the ABI Foundation to fund joint ABI/NCBJ educational programs that accompany this award will cement what is already a close relationship between the ABI and the NCBJ.

"Periodically, between 1983, when the ABI was formed, and 1989, Judge Norton provided to the Executive Committee of the ABI copies of the charters of the American College of Trial Lawyers and similar organizations looking toward creation of the American College of Bankruptcy.

"In 1989, the Executive Committee designated Judge Norton as a committee of one to commence formation of the College.

"The ABI provided seed money for formation of the College, which inducted its first class of honorees in 1990.

"It was the diligence of Judge Norton, working with others, that led to the creation of these institutions.

"The College has instituted a joint project with the University of Pennsylvania to archive materials relating to the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978.

"Judge Norton instituted the Norton Bankruptcy Law Advisor in 1971 and served as its Editor-in-Chief for several years. The Advisor is now published by Thomson/West.

"Then there are the Norton Institutes which run seminars annually for bankruptcy practitioners.

"Judge Norton's creativity has not abated. He is now working on a project to gather documents relating to previous bankruptcy acts, as a basis for compiling a history of those acts.

"Judge Norton's accomplishments have set a high marker for all of us who labor in the field of bankruptcy and insolvency law, which explains why I am humbled and pleased to accept this award."