Five judges from Central Europe attended the annual convention of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges (NCBJ) in October under grants by ABI and the NCBJ Endowment for Education. The judges also spent three days in New York, where they met with Judges Arthur Gonzalez and Allan Gropper in the Southern District of New York and attended a chapter 11 plan confirmation hearing. In addition, ABI committees presented programs for the judges that focused on reorganization practices under U.S. bankruptcy law.

The purpose of the program was to bring judges from Central Europe to the United States to learn more about how we handle bankruptcy cases in this country, and especially reorganization cases, in order to stimulate ideas on how they might handle similar cases more effectively under the fledgling bankruptcy laws of their own countries. To avoid the problem of providing multiple translators, the program required that each visiting judge speak English.

Judge Samuel Bufford of the Central District of California organized the trip under the sponsorship of the NCBJ International Law Relations Committee. ABI and the NCBJ Endowment shared equally in the funding of the program. The visit by the Central European judges was originally scheduled for the Orlando NCBJ meeting in 2001, but it was postponed after the events of Sept. 11, 2001.

The five Central European judges came from five countries. Judge Alex Ivanov is an appellate judge in Bulgaria, where his appellate panel hears commercial law and bankruptcy cases. The others are all trial judges: Judge Mario Vukelic from Zagreb, Croatia; Judge Maria Botka Lazlone from Budapest, Hungary; Judge Tatjana Susuleska from Pirlep, Macedonia; and Judge Carmen Capata from Iasi, Romania. Judge Miki Dordevic of Ljubljana, Slovenia, who has a Fulbright grant to spend the fall in Nashville, Tenn., also joined the group.

ABI took a central role in planning the program for the judges, both in New York and in Chicago. Mark Liscio of Clifford Chance and Ron Silverman of Bingham McCutcheon chaired the New York planning committee, and Jamie Sprayregen of Kirkland & Ellis chaired the Chicago planning committee on behalf of ABI. The New York committee presented the Monday program for the Central European judges in New York, hosted a Monday night dinner and accompanied the judges in their visit to the Southern District of New York courthouse on Tuesday. The Chicago planning committee arranged dinner for the judges on Wednesday night and made presentations on Thursday and Friday that were specially designed for the visiting judges.

The Central European judges arrived in New York from Europe on Sunday, Sept. 29, and Monday, Sept. 30. On Monday, ABI teams gave presentations on the U.S. bankruptcy process, with an emphasis on business reorganization. Several law firms hosted a French dinner for the judges on Monday evening at La Cote Basque Restaurant.

On Tuesday, the Central European judges met at the courthouse with Judge Gropper, who discussed the issues to be decided at the plan confirmation hearing of 360networks, a chapter 11 debtor. After this discussion, the judges attended the confirmation hearing, where Judge Gropper took testimony, considered objections and confirmed the plan. The Central European judges next had lunch at the courthouse and met with Judge Gonzalez, who discussed his pending Enron and WorldCom cases.

In the afternoon Kathleen Farrell, the clerk of the bankruptcy court for the Southern District of New York, gave the Central European judges a tour of the courthouse and a demonstration of the electronic filing system. Afterward, the judges took a boat tour around the lower half of Manhattan Island.

On Wednesday the judges traveled to Chicago, and arrived in time for the President's reception that initiated the NCBJ convention. After the reception, Peter Benvenutti and George Kelakos of Heller Ehrman hosted a dinner for the judges, along with several American bankruptcy judges and several Chicago bankruptcy lawyers. Following dinner, Judge Judith Fitzgerald, the NCBJ president, hosted the Central European judges in her suite, which was open to all judges and academics attending the convention.

At the Chicago convention, a number of bankruptcy judges took an active role in hosting the Central European judges. The host judges included Judge Chuck Case from Phoenix, Judge Eileen Hollowell of Tucson, Ariz., Judge Michael Williamson of Tampa, Fla., Judge Jennie Latta of Memphis, Tenn., Judge Tom Cornish of Tulsa, Okla., and Judge Greg Kishel from St. Paul, Minn.

After attending the first sessions of the NCBJ conference on Thursday morning, the Central European judges went to the nearby Kirkland & Ellis offices, where Jamie Sprayregen hosted a luncheon and a discussion on business restructuring by David Eaton of PricewaterhouseCoopers Securities LLC. Jonathan Carson and Eric Kurtzman of Kurtzman Carson Consultants LLC then gave a presentation on recent developments in private claims administration.

The Central European judges spent Thursday afternoon attending the ABA Pacific Rim Roundtable, and participated in discussions on developing UNCITRAL standards for domestic bankruptcy legislation, progress in the adoption of the UNCITRAL model law on cross-border insolvencies, and developments in Japanese insolvency law. On Friday afternoon, the judges returned to the Kirkland & Ellis offices for a lively discussion on the bankruptcy laws of their respective countries.

The judges also attended numerous social functions at the NCBJ convention, including a Saturday afternoon reception at Judge Susan Sonderby's lakefront condominium, a Thursday night dinner for judges only, and the Friday night gala dinner with entertainment by Prudence Clearwater Revisited. On Sunday, Oct. 6, the Central European judges returned to their European home countries.