[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 74 (Thursday, May 14, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E706]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       REMEMBERING HARVEY MILLER

                                  _____
                                 

                          HON. JERROLD NADLER

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 14, 2015

  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to note the passing of one of this 
nation's preeminent bankruptcy attorneys, Harvey R. Miller. Harvey was 
a giant of the profession, having played a leading role in some of the 
most significant cases of the last half century. These cases included 
Texaco Inc., Drexel Burnham Lambert Group Inc., Eastern Airlines Corp., 
Continental Airlines, R. H. Macy, WorldCom, Global Crossing, Enron, 
Lehman Brothers, and General Motors, just to name a few.
  Harvey was also a mentor to some of this nation's top practitioners, 
and an outstanding law professor. He even took the time to help me 
understand the Bankruptcy Code and many complex legal issues arising 
from it when this House considered a rewrite of the Code a decade ago.
  Speaking to the New York Times in 2007, he said, ``Life should be an 
adventure. My practice at Weil was and still is exactly that. By 
working on reorganizations and restructuring work in so many different 
businesses--such as energy, retail, manufacturing and even satellites--
that's the glory of the practice and that's what I love about it. I've 
always said that about restructuring practice. It is probably the last 
area of the generalist.''
  As a member of the National Bankruptcy Conference, Harvey worked with 
his colleagues in the profession to advise Congress on changes to the 
Bankruptcy Code, advice that was both scholarly and informed by the 
real world experience of the nation's top practitioners. That advice 
was too often ignored by this institution and the state of the law is 
the poorer for it.
  Harvey was a consummate New Yorker. He would note with satisfaction 
that his office in the General Motors building on Fifth Avenue was 
``across from Bergdorf's men's shop and close to Barneys.'' He was also 
a great lover of the opera, and served as an Advisory Director of the 
Metropolitan Opera.
  Mr. Speaker, I was proud to count Harvey Miller, a fellow son of 
Brooklyn, as a friend. He was greatly admired by all who knew him. His 
contributions to the profession, and to the development of bankruptcy 
law in the United States, are incalculable. I ask all my colleagues to 
join me in honoring the life and work of this great legal scholar and 
practitioner, and to join me in extending to his wife, Ruth, our 
deepest sympathies.

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