Cynthia Lichtenstein, Honorary Vice President and former President of ABILA, left us physically on November 28, 2024 at the age of 90. But she will never leave us intellectually or emotionally. A good life lives on, and hers was chock full, raising a family and rising to the top of overlapping careers in law practice, academia and professional leadership.

She was exceptionally well grounded. One of her endearing practices was to extend a warm and enduring welcome to newcomers in each of her professional environments including ABILA. After her passing, one of her protégés on the Boston College Law faculty, her principal academic affiliation, recalled her advice about getting to work there in Boston traffic: “Unless you keep moving, you’re toast.” What an apt metaphor to describe Cynthia herself – witness the ever-changing advice about her specific whereabouts on her voicemail! Still, she liked stable surroundings. When a B.C. colleague gently reminded her that the movers would be coming to her office the very next day to prepare for repainting and recarpeting, she replied, “I don’t think so.”

Years later, on her retirement, her office alone at the law school still had the original paint and carpet. After retiring from B.C., she was largely anchored in just two locations: Stonington, CT and Sarasota, FL, both near water and boats, which she loved. During her so-called post-retirement, while teaching for a few years at George Washington Law School, she also kept a boat in a Potomac marina, in which I was privileged to stay a few times during meetings in Washington when she and her husband Charles were away.

Cynthia’s leadership in the ILA over many years was immense, ranging from the humdrum of routine management matters to pathfinding developments of the law in MOCOMILA, her niche committee on monetary law and practice. The biennial ILA Proceedings repeatedly reflect her advocacy of harmonized national laws and concern about the increasing complexity of financial markets. As a Vice Chair of the ILA she was characteristically insightful, measured and practical on the podium during Executive Council meetings. Her mind was brilliant, but her voice low-keyed. Within ABILA her workaday attention to detail was peerless. No wonder she was enthusiastically elected as ABILA’s first female President (1986-92) and, more recently (2020), as the first recipient of our service award. She was a fixture at biennial ILA conferences and semiannual ABILA meetings twice a year.

It is remarkable that after Cynthia suffered a serious stroke late in life, she kept her eye on the ball, never giving up hope to resume attendance at ILA conferences and ABILA meetings but meanwhile content to settle for occasional visits and phone conversations such as with ABILA President-Elect Amity Boye and me. She wasn’t always easy to reach at her retirement center in Sarasota, but when that was possible, she always, first and foremost, began our conversations by lamenting the loss of her beloved husband Charles, immediately followed by questions about the latest ILA and ABILA developments as well as thoughtful advice: “Here’s what we need to do, Jim…” Her memory of ILA and ABILA history, not to mention often humorous personal vignettes, was remarkable. Quelle femme!

We mourn her loss now but will treasure our memories of her forever.

Jim Nafziger

Vice Chair, ILA

Honorary Vice President and former President, ABILA