2021 -- H 6345

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LC002872

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2021

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H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

EXPRESSING DEEPEST CONDOLENCES ON THE PASSING OF THE HONORABLE

JUDGE WILLIAM C. HILLMAN (RETIRED)

     Introduced By: Representatives Blazejewski, Shekarchi, Kislak, Filippi, Shallcross
Smith, Fellela, Ajello, and Tanzi

     Date Introduced: May 18, 2021

     Referred To: House read and passed

     WHEREAS, It is with sadness and regret that this House has learned of the passing of

Judge William C. Hillman, a highly respected retired Chief Judge of the United States

Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts, and a member of the Bankruptcy Appellate

Panel for the First Circuit; and

     WHEREAS, Justice Hillman was born in Providence, the son of Harold and Anne

Hillman. He graduated from the University of Chicago and the Boston University School of Law.

He began his distinguished legal career in 1957 and was a widely respected commercial and

banking lawyer who was admired for his tireless work ethic and for being a mentor to many

young lawyers. He also taught bankruptcy law at several law schools; and

     WHEREAS, From 1959 to 1965, Justice Hillman served our nation with honor and

distinction as a member of the United States Army Reserves, reaching the rank of Captain; and

     WHEREAS, Justice Hillman was a prodigious legal author throughout his career,

authoring numerous scholarly articles and editing and updating several commercial law books. In

1969, he became a member of the Uniform Law Commission, and helped to develop uniform

state laws which included important modernizations to the Uniform Commercial Code, which

fostered consistency in commercial transactions; and

     WHEREAS, In recognition of his legal acumen and wise judicial temperament, Justice

Hillman was appointed to the United States Bankruptcy Court in 1991, reappointed in 2005, and

served on the court until August 14, 2015. He also served as the Court’s Chief Justice from 1998

to 2002; and

     WHEREAS, During his distinguished twenty-four years as a Justice, Judge Hillman

wrote more than 600 opinions, and was held in high esteem by his fellow colleagues on the courts

for his abiding integrity, high intelligence and his uncanny ability to distill a complicated problem

or question to its essence. He was a Justice of high professional standards but was always

unassuming and willing to help anyone in need of assistance; and

     WHEREAS, While serving on the bench, Justice Hillman traveled to many places in the

former Soviet Union to educate their local judges about United States Bankruptcy law. He also

volunteered to hold a weekly Bankruptcy Courtroom in Barnstable, Cape Cod, in order to relieve

parties from the burden of having to travel to Boston. Upon retiring in 2015, the Court named his

former courtroom in his honor and in recognition of his invaluable contributions to the courts and

our nation’s legal system; and

     WHEREAS, Justice Hillman was the beloved husband of Eleanor Radin. He is also

survived by his son, Dan Hillman, his children by marriage, Peter, Deba and Michael, and his

grandchildren, Sara, Sam and Chasen. He is also survived by his brother, Richard, and was the

father of the late Harold Hillman; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island hereby

expresses its deepest condolences to Eleanor Radin and the entire Hillman Family on the passing

of the Honorable Justice William C. Hillman (Retired). He will forever be remembered as a

highly respected and admired Judge who presided with fairness and justice, and served the people

of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and our nation with integrity and excellence; and be it

further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to Eleanor Radin and the Hillman Family.

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LC002872

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