Legal Forum : ELFA

Legal Forum

May 03 - May 05, 2020

Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington, DC

Legal Forum has been cancelled. All registrations will be automatically refunded to the credit card used to register. If you paid by check the refund will be issued by check to the address on your invoice. Please allow 21 business days for all refunds to be processed.

ELFA Coronavirus Update

Due to growing health concerns related to the COVID-19 coronavirus, ELFA has postponed or cancelled a number of upcoming events. These changes are in keeping with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which as of March 16 is urging a nationwide halt to gatherings of more than 50 people for the next eight weeks. We are monitoring health professional advice and updates from the CDC and WHO regarding the COVID-19 coronavirus and following the guidelines from these agencies and local health departments, and will make any necessary modifications to our event schedule as needed to ensure the health and safety of our members, staff, vendors and others. For questions regarding ELFA events, please email meetings@elfaonline.org.

See details here

Providing Legal Direction and Valuable Counsel for over 50 Years

The PREMIER EVENT for attorneys serving the equipment leasing and finance industry. The best place to OBTAIN UPDATES ON LEGAL ISSUES that impact your company UNMATCHED NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES with your peers in the industry.

Highlights at the 2020 Legal Forum:

Roundtable discussions on the following key issues: air, rail, marine; motor vehicle; barriers & opportunities to financing cannabis & hemp; cross-border international issues; fintech; syndication; hot topics; fraud; UCC basics; UCC advanced; managed/bundled services; market practices; e-docs; fraud.
Concurrent sessions on such topics as: intro to leasing; data security and privacy; creeping consumerism; UCC basics; contract across state lines; leaseconomics; inventory financing/international; bankruptcy and workout strategies; government finance; cybersecurity; merger-up; acquisitions; navigating involuntary and statutory liens; California financing law; embedded terms.
General Sessions on the always popular Legal Update and Ethics.

Registration Fees

Price Description	Amount
*First Time Attendee (ELFA Member First Timer)	$1075.00
*Spouse/Companion of Member	$275.00
*Spouse/Companion of Non Member	$275.00
Attendee (ELFA Member)	$1255.00
Attendee Additional (ELFA Member)	$1135.00
Committee Member	$610.00
Non Member Attendee (All)	$2515.00
Speaker - Member (Attending Entire Conference)	$610.00
Speaker - Non Member (Attending Entire Conference)	$610.00

View cancellation and other policies

Download Conference Agenda:

Available Functions

Sunday - May 03

	Special Dietary Requests Please enter any food allergies or other special dietary needs such as vegan, gluten-free, etc.
9:00 am - 12:30 pm
	DC WHIRLWIND TOUR	$130.00
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
	Motor Vehicle Roundtable
2:15 pm - 3:15 pm
	Barriers & Opportunities To Financing Cannabis & Hemp Customers - Roundtable
	Syndications Roundtable
4:30 pm - 5:30 pm
	Newcomer Reception
Monday - May 04
10:45 am - 11:45 am
	Government Finance: Municipal & Tribal - Roundtable
1:30 pm - 2:30 pm
	UCC Advanced Roundtable
2:45 pm - 3:45 pm
	Air, Rail, Marine - Roundtable
	FINTECH: What it is and How You Can Use It - Roundtable
	Hot Topics Roundtable
	Managed/Bundled Services Best Practices & Market Practices - Roundtable	$0.00
5:00 pm - 5:45 pm
	Women In Leasing Reception
Tuesday - May 05
8:00 am - 9:00 am
	E-Docs: What Companies Are Really Doing And How - Roundtable
	Hot Topics Roundtable (Repeat)
9:15 am - 10:15 am
	Does Your Contract Work Across State Lines - Roundtable
	Fraud In The Modern World: Red Flags And Remembering The Basics - Roundtable
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
	Market Practices Roundtable

Speakers

Rodney Abele

Senior Managing Counsel, Regulatory Affairs
PNC Equipment Finance

Stewart Abramson

Senior Managing Counsel

Stewart Abramson is Senior Managing Counsel in the Wells Fargo Law Department. Stewart was honored to be selected by the ELFA Legal Committee as the Edward Groobert Award winner in 2018 for legal excellence and service to the Association. His team supports all aspects of the Wells Fargo equipment finance , including, Wells Fargo Equipment Finance, Inc., Wells Fargo Financial Leasing, Wells Fargo Rail and Wells Fargo Vendor Financial Services. He served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Charter Financial, Inc. from 1988 until Charter’s acquisition by Wells Fargo in 2000, and was General Counsel of North American Corporation prior to joining Charter. Stewart holds a B.S from Union College (NY) and a J.D. from Boston University School of Law.

R. Scott Adams

Vice President Legal & Compliance, North America
Volvo Financial Services

Scott Adams serves as VP, Legal & Compliance North America for Volvo Financial Services in Greensboro, North Carolina. He has experience structuring, negotiating and documenting a variety of commercial transactions, as well as managing bankruptcy and insolvency matters. A native of Charleston, W.Va., he attended Colgate University and WVU College of Law.

Andrew Alper

VP and Shareholder
Frandzel Robins Bloom & Csato, L.C.

Andrew K. Alper is a Vice President and shareholder with the law firm of Frandzel Robins Bloom & Csato, L.C. in Los Angeles, California. Andrew has the A.V. Rating with Martindale Hubbell and has been representing equipment lessors, funding sources and other financial institutions since 1978. Andrew obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science, Magna Cum Laude, from the University of California at Santa Barbara and received his Juris Doctor from Loyola Law School of Los Angeles in 1979. Andrew was on the Board of Directors for the United Association Equipment Lessors (now known as National Equipment and Finance Association ("NEFA") and has been a speaker for the United Association of Equipment Lessors and NEFA, the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association of America ("ELFA") at its Credit and Collections Conference and Legal Forum, the Eastern Association of Equipment Lessors (now part of NEFA), and the National Association of Equipment Leasing Brokers. Andrew has been on the ELFA Legal Committee twice and the Credit and Collections Committee and continues to serve on the subcommittees for Amicus Briefs, Legislation, and Renewal Legislation. Andrew was awarded the prestigious Edward R, Groobert Award for Legal Excellence by the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association in 2019. Andrew was named one of the 25 most influential persons in equipment leasing and finance by the Leasing News in 2015. Andrew wrote the Chapter on Equipment Leasing for the California Continuing Education of the Bar in its periodical entitled Financing and Organizing California Businesses released in April, 2007, and updated the California Continuing Education of the Bar manual of California UCC Sales and Leases published in December, 2014. Andrew has written many articles for The Monitor and also has written for the Journal of Equipment Lease Financing on the California Financial Law. Andrew has spoken on various topics at the ELFA Legal Forum, ELFA Credit and Collections Conference, National Equipment Finance Association, Small Business Lending Conference, and National Association of Equipment Leasing Brokers on various transactional, litigation, operational, and bankruptcy topics. Andrew has also taught the legal and collections sections in the ELFA Principles of Leasing classes. Andrew has also presented a seminar on Equipment Leasing for the Los Angeles County Bar Association. Andrew's practice emphasizes the representation of all aspects of equipment leasing, equipment finance, real property finance, bankruptcy, business and commercial litigation in State and Federal Courts, factoring, and transactional and operational matters for various types of financial institutions and commercial creditors.

Christa Ballin Esq

Attorney
Dell Financial Services

Christa joined Dell in 2017 as Legal Counsel for its finance subsidiary, Dell Financial Services L.L.C. (DFS), supporting payment solutions in the U.S. for small and medium businesses, the public (State, Local, & Educational government entities, “SLED”), and consumer segments. She also supports DFS’ global payment terms, “aaS” offerings for infrastructure, software and PCs (IaaS, SaaS, PCaaS, etc.), and utility & consumption-based solutions. In 2019 with the DFS business growing exponentially, Christa became the lead attorney for DFS’ entire SLED segment, providing contractual and legal support on various, complex government deals for the DFS North America Public Sales organization in both Canada and the U.S. Prior to joining Dell, Christa was a Corporate Associate Attorney at Orson and Brusini, Ltd., where she specialized in business and corporate law, business governance and succession planning, mergers and acquisitions, finance, litigation and alternative dispute resolution, commercial transactions, employment law, and real estate. Prior to that, she was a Litigation Associate Attorney at Bengtson & Jestings, LLP for two years with an emphasis on insurance defense and insurance coverage disputes, as well as municipal law, land use and zoning issues, and title insurance claims. She holds a bar license at the state and federal levels in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, and is an active member of various professional organizations, including, but not limited to, the RIBA, MBA, FBA, AGLF, ELFA, NECCA, and ACC Northeast Chapter. Since going inhouse with Dell, Christa has enjoyed the opportunity to devote herself to one client and become a true partner inside a dynamic business that is continuously innovating, changing and growing.

Naomi Barnes

Partner
Kutak Rock LLP

Naomi Barnes is a Partner in the Scottsdale office of Kutak Rock. She lives and works in Santa Fe, New Mexico She focuses her practice on transactions involving Native American tribes, but also represents municipal and governmental entities, as well as investment banks and conduit borrowers in municipal public finance transactions, particularly project-finance transactions involving conduit and other structures. In her tribal practice, Naomi regularly advises tribal governments, tribal businesses and tribal instrumentalities on finance, corporate matters and business matters. She has advised on numerous financing transactions involving Native American tribes, including taxable and tax-exempt loans and securities offerings. Financed projects include tribal infrastructure, casinos, casino expansions, general commercial projects, health clinics, administration facilities, public-safety facilities, conference centers, hotels and other projects./p>

Merrick Benn

Partner
Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP

Merrick's practice focuses on personal property commercial financing with an emphasis on negotiating and documenting middle market and big ticket transactions involving all equipment types and classes including manufacturing lines, aircraft (corporate and commercial), vessels (barges and tankers), railroad rolling stock, software, and technologies.

Merrick has extensive experience in tax motivated "true leases," leases intended for security, off-balance sheet loans (synthetic leases), term and demand loans, commercial paper conduit transactions, and securitizations. In addition to originating deals, Merrick's practice includes the syndication of, and participation in existing transactions. He works regularly with special forms of credit enhancements such as letters of credit, guaranties, and insurance policies. Merrick also counsels clients on the acquisition and disposition of loan and lease portfolios.

Merrick is a frequent lecturer on the negotiation and documentation of equipment lease transactions.

Prior to joining Womble Carlyle, Merrick was a member of the Corporate/Finance practice group at DLA Piper LLP (US), where he worked on both domestic and

Paul Bent

Senior Managing Director
The Alta Group LLC

Paul Bent is a senior managing director of The Alta Group and head of the firm’s Legal Services and Business Quality Assessment Practices. With more than 40 years of experience as an investment banker, equipment leasing CEO, and transaction attorney, Paul has participated in all facets of leasing and corporate financing. As a leader in the consultancy, he provides Alta clients with insight and advice in assessing both strategic and tactical business plans and alternatives, developing and implementing leasing transactions and structures, reviewing business and documentation practices, and analyzing asset-based financing alternatives.

He serves as a testifying expert in legal matters involving leasing, transaction structuring, and contract interpretation; and he provides services as a neutral arbitrator in difficult disputes over leasing and corporate finance. He also works as a professional singer, performing in the Los Angeles area and on multiple motion picture and video game soundtracks, including “World of Warcraft.”

He earned his A.B. from UCLA, with highest departmental honors in mathematics and computer science, and his J.D. from Southwestern Law School, where he was an Associate Editor of the Southwestern University Law Review.

Annette Blazek

Manager, Credit Operations

Rachel Brescoll

Associate
Kutak Rock LLP

Rachel Brescoll is an Associate in Kutak Rock LLP’s Chicago office, practicing in the firm’s Finance Group. Rachel’s practice focuses on equipment leasing and finance transactions. Before joining Kutak Rock, Rachel worked as an in-house attorney at Citizens Asset Finance for six years. At Citizens Rachel handled a variety of asset finance transactions and syndications. Rachel holds a J.D. from DePaul University College of Law and a B.A. from Hanover College.

Eileen Brown

Partner
Thompson Coburn LLP

Eileen is a successful negotiator and strategist who focuses on her clients' goals throughout every transaction. She advises financial institutions and operating companies in asset-based financing and equipment leasing transactions.
Eileen advises clients on maritime financing, commercial, and regulatory matters, including loan and security documents, purchase and sale agreements, and a variety of leasing and chartering arrangements. She also counsels large companies negotiating aircraft leases, acquisitions, financing, purchase and sale transactions as well as aircraft operational structures under Part 91. Eileen represents clients before various U.S. agencies, such as the Department of Transportation, the U.S. Maritime Administration (MarAd), and the U.S. Coast Guard. With more than 25 years' experience, Eileen recognizes the importance of fully engaging with the client’s team on each project—from engineers to originators and portfolio managers—which helps her balance often-competing needs. Prior to joining the firm, Eileen was an attorney with MarAd, focusing on the Title XI loan guarantee program. She also served as counsel for International Registries, Inc. (IRI) at the time that IRI served as corporate and maritime administrator for the Republics of Liberia and the Marshall Islands.

Daniel Canine

General Counsel
Mitsubishi HC Capital America, Inc.

Mirna Cardona

Corporate Counsel - Transactions
Frost Equipment Leasing and Finance

Mirna Cardona is Vice President and Corporate Counsel for Frost Bank, headquartered in San Antonio, TX. She provides legal advice to Frost Bank’s equipment leasing, commercial lending, and depository teams. In prior roles, Mirna was actively involved in diversity, equity, and inclusion committees, and was a member of the hiring committee for Clifford Chance US LLP. She also continues to participate in pro bono work and to coordinate pro bono clinics for her colleagues.

Law Clerk for Chambers of Hon. Juan R. Torruella, First Circuit Court of Appeals (2010-2011); Cornell Law School, J.D. 2009; admitted to practice in New York and Texas.

Scott Chait

Director, Counsel - Practice Group Head
Sumitomo Mitsui Finance & Leasing Co., Ltd.

Scott Chait is an equipment leasing and finance attorney in the Americas Division of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation. His industry experience includes not only in-house and law firm positions, but he has also served “in the trenches” in an operations role with an international bank affiliate. His experience covers a wide-range of asset types in the small, medium, and large ticket sectors and he has documented, structured, negotiated, and closed a diverse portfolio of transactions, including direct originations, syndications, refinancings, workouts, transfers and assumptions, and vendor and dealer referral and remarketing programs. Scott has also developed standard documentation, policies, and operational procedures, and conducted extensive trainings for non-lawyer professionals. His past experience also includes handling litigation and bankruptcy matters for banks, bank affiliates, captives, and independent equipment finance companies.

Matthew Cleaves

Managing Counsel, Equipment Finance and Vendor Financial Services
Wells Fargo Equipment Finance

Kimberlee Coleman

Counsel
Kimberlee R. Coleman, Esq.

Kimberlee R. Coleman, Esq.
Independent

Kimberlee R. Coleman is an Independent attorney, representing clients in the financial services industry. She concentrates on asset-based commercial lending, equipment leasing, project finance and general corporate law.

Ms. Coleman represents Banc of America Leasing & Capital, LLC where she advises and provides legal support to the Capital Markets/Syndications group in connection with the syndication of complex, large ticket and middle market lease and debt financing transactions involving commercial aircraft, railcars and vehicles. She also represents Eastward Capital Partners, a venture debt/leasing company where she advises the entity on all aspects of its legal affairs.

Ms. Coleman was previously a legal consultant for ABB Energy Capital/ABB Business Finance and prior to that was Corporate Counsel for BankVest Capital Corp., a privately-held leasing company. She started her legal career as Assistant General Counsel at Chancellor Corporation, a publicly-held international leasing company.

She is on the Board of Friends of Leary Field, Inc., a local non-profit organization that is responsible for the construction, governance, scheduling and use of her hometown's synthetic infill turf fields and ancillary athletic space. She is also an active volunteer with Pets & People Foundation, a local non-profit that provides pet-assisted therapy to people.

She holds a Bachelor's Degree (Cum Laude) from the University of Vermont, Burlington, VT and a Juris Doctor (Cum Laude) from Suffolk University Law School, Boston, MA.

Benjamin Court

Partner
Stinson LLP

Benjamin delivers legal solutions to equipment leasing and finance organizations. He is well-versed in Articles 2A and 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code. He has documented lease and loan transactions for captive, bank-affiliated and independent equipment finance companies. Ben also has extensive experience in the enforcement of rights afforded to lessors and secured creditors. His experience includes lawsuits, mediations, arbitrations, workouts and bankruptcy and restructuring proceedings.

Jennifer Crastz

Partner
Hemar, Rousso & Heald, LLP

Jennifer Witherell Crastz’s practice is concentrated on bankruptcy and bankruptcy litigation, representing secured and unsecured creditors in Chapter 7, 11 and 13 proceedings, and a broad range of business and commercial litigation matters, including U.C.C. and equipment leasing disputes.

Ms. Crastz received her undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley. She earned her law degree in 1996 from Southwestern University School of Law, where she was a member of the Journal of Law and Trade in the Americas.

Ms. Crastz previously served for two years as a Judicial Law Clerk to the Hon. Robert W. Alberts, of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Central District of California.

A seasoned litigation and bankruptcy attorney with experience in both state and federal courts, Ms. Crastz is also admitted to all four U.S. District Courts of California.

Charles Cross

Senior Lead Counsel
Wells Fargo Equipment Finance

Jeanette Dannenfelser

Senior Vice President, General Counsel
Summit Funding Group, A First Financial Bank Company

Jeanette has served as VP, General Counsel and Secretary of Summit Funding Group, Inc. since 2016.

Prior to joining Summit, Jeanette was the General Counsel of Global Heating Technologies, a start-up company specializing in flameless heating technologies, for which she negotiated license and other agreements with prominent consumer products and tobacco companies. Jeanette also led a successful international arbitration based in Zurich, Switzerland on behalf of GHT.

Jeanette also has extensive experience leading and managing litigation, both in-house as Litigation Counsel for a Fortune 500 medical products company and as outside trial counsel representing the interests of many international corporations in contract, banking and tort matters.

Jill Davidson

Partner
Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP

A partner in the Womble Bond Dickinson capital markets practice, clients in the finance world rely on Jill to get their deals done. Jill’s practice encompasses nearly every aspect of personal property financing transactions, both domestic and cross-border, and over the course of her career she has represented lessors, lenders, lessees, borrowers, and credit support providers, as well as government-related entities and development finance institutions, giving her important insights into the needs of each of the parties to a transaction. She has extensive experience in big-ticket and middle market transactions.

Kristin Esche

Associate Chief Counsel
John Deere Financial

Kristin Esche serves as Associate Chief Counsel for John Deere Financial. In this role she provides broad legal guidance in support of the Company’s lending services and financial innovation. Kristin currently co-leads John Deere Financial's Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion team for the US and Canada.
Since Kristin joined Deere & Company in 2012, she has counseled the Company in the areas of litigation, corporate governance, and securities law. Before joining Deere, she spent a decade in Los Angeles where she had a diverse commercial litigation and white-collar criminal defense practice.
Kristin completed a Bachelor's degree in Literature from the University of California, San Diego; a Master's degree in Women's Studies from The Ohio State University; and a juris doctorate from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.

Matthew Evans Esq.

Marc Frohman

Owner
Frohman & Associates LLC

Marc Frohman is a sole practitioner and seasoned equipment finance attorney. Prior to opening his own practice in 2012, Marc was an associate general counsel with De Lage Landen Financial Services, Inc. and GE Capital Transport International Pool/GE Capital Modular Space, and General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Vishay Intertechnology (VSH), an electronic components manufacturer.

Marc's clients include a variety of lenders, equipment finance companies and operating leasing companies, in which capacity he assists with complex transactions, vendor program negotiation, syndication, contract process management and general legal matters. Among his areas of expertise are IT, healthcare, lighting, office and motor vehicle leasing. In recent years, Marc has increasingly focused on managed equipment service agreement financing on a transaction and programmatic basis. Marc is a graduate of The University of Pennsylvania Law School (1991) and Yale College (1982) and is based in Philadelphia.

Michael Gallo Esq

Of Counsel
Padfield & Stout, LLP

Experienced legal counsel and business executive working with and advising executive leadership in cross-functional environment to achieve business objectives. Specific areas of experience include, commercial equipment finance and leasing, litigation management, public/municipal finance, federal contracting, operations management, risk/credit underwriting, collections, collection litigation and regulatory compliance. Additional experience includes, developing and managing compliance programs, running internal investigations, and responding to government investigative demands.

Education: Juris Doctorate, Master Finance, Bachelor Finance, Six Sigma - Green Belt

Julia Gavrilov

Partner
Moritt Hock & Hamroff LLP

Julia Gavrilov concentrates her practice in equipment leasing, secured finance, asset-based lending and all areas of complex commercial litigation. On the transactional side, Ms. Gavrilov specializes in the drafting of equipment lease and loan documents in various secured financing transactions on behalf of secured lenders, banks and lessors, and in representing both buyers and sellers in syndication and capital market transactions. Based on her steady rise throughout the leasing and finance industry, Ms. Gavrilov has been invited to speak on numerous industry panels, including the Legal Forum for the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA), the ELFA Annual Convention, the ELFA Credit & Collections conference and the National Equipment Finance Association’s Finance Summit.

As a seasoned litigator, Ms. Gavrilov’s commercial litigation practice includes the enforcement and/or preservation of lender/lessor’s rights under defaulted equipment lease and secured loan transactions, and in regularly representing both institutional and individual clients in actions involving breach of contract, fraud, shareholder derivative disputes, trademark infringement, counterfeiting, trade diversion, Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO), attorney malpractice and bankruptcyrelated disputes before the Federal and State courts, as well as various arbitral bodies.

In addition to her daily practice, Ms. Gavrilov also Chairs the Firm’s Women’s Initiative program: “MHH WINS” – “Women’s Initiative for Navigating Success”, and serves as a member of the Firm’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee.

Education:

New York Law School, J.D. 2006
Barnard College, Columbia University, B.A. 2002

Admissions:

Ms. Gavrilov is admitted to practice in New York, as well as before the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the Supreme Court of the United States.

Affiliations:

Ms. Gavrilov is a member of the American, New York State and Nassau County Bar Associations. She is also member of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA), where she serves on its Service Providers Business Council Steering Committee as well as on the Research Committee of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Foundation. Additionally, Ms. Gavrilov is a member of the Secured Finance Network's (SFNet) Women in Secured Finance Committee, as well as a member of GGI-Worldwide Alliance of Independent Law Firms.

Recognitions:

2021 - Top Women in Equipment Finance (The Monitor)
2021 - NextGen Leader / 40 Under 40 (The Monitor)
2020 - SFNet Top Women In Commercial Finance
2020 - SFNet 40 Under 40 Award

Languages:

Russian

Robert Geis

Assistant Chief Counsel
First Citizens Bank Equipment Finance

Bob provides legal support to CIT’s small and mid-ticket lease and loan vendor business segments with an emphasis in the technology, industrial and healthcare markets through negotiation of vendor and end user agreements, and portfolio acquisitions and sales. Bob also provides legal and regulatory compliance support to CIT Bank subsidiaries.

Prior to CIT, Bob was in-house counsel with Barnett Banks in Florida for five years litigating consumer collection and bankruptcy matters followed by 10 years with Xerox Corporation as region counsel responsible for enforcing commercial leases, managing bankruptcy matters, and supporting its Public Sector Leasing division. Immediately prior to joining CIT, Bob worked for Metavante Regulatory Services as Compliance Manager and provided regulatory compliance advice, training, and consulting services to financial institutions.

Bob received his law degree from the University of Florida and a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from University of South Florida. Bob lives in Jacksonville Florida with his wife and two daughters.

Arlene Gelman

Shareholder
Vedder Price P.C.

Arlene N. Gelman is a Shareholder at Vedder Price in the firm’s Commercial Litigation and Corporate Reorganization, Bankruptcy and Insolvency groups and currently serves as Co-Chair of the firm's Creditors' Rights and Collections group.

Ms. Gelman concentrates her practice in the representation of lenders, equipment lessors and other creditors in U.S. state, federal district, appellate and bankruptcy courts, including prosecuting numerous breach-of-contract and replevin actions, and representing the interests of secured and unsecured creditors in various state courts and in bankruptcy matters.

Ms. Gelman is a frequent and sought after speaker on equipment finance and bankruptcy related topics. She is a member of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA), Chicago Bar
Association, The Illinois State Bar
Association, the American Bankruptcy Institute, and the International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation.

In 2020 and 2022, Ms. Gelman was included on Lawdragon’s list of the 500 Leading U.S. Bankruptcy and Restructuring Lawyers. Since 2013, she has been selected by her peers as a Leading Lawyer in Bankruptcy & Workout: Commercial
and Creditor’s Rights/Commercial Collections. She has also received an "AV Preeminent" Peer Rating in Martindale-Hubbell. Ms. Gelman was recognized by The Best Lawyers in America in the 2023 edition for Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency Law and Reorganization Law.

Ms. Gelman is a graduate of the University of Illinois (B.A., with distinction, 1989) and Boston University School of Law (J.D., 1994), where she was an Edward F. Hennessey Scholar. Ms. Gelman also served as a staff attorney to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois; Law Clerk to the Honorable Ronald Barliant, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of Illinois; Law Clerk to the Honorable Eugene Wedoff, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of Illinois; and Law Clerk to the Honorable Joan H. Lefkow, U.S. District Court Judge for the Northern District of Illinois.

Ms. Gelman is currently a member of ELFA’s Legal Committee and is a past member of ELFA's Credit and Collections Committee.

Ms. Gelman's past ELFA speaking events include:

Speaking as a moderator at the Legal Update panel at ELFA's 2022 Legal Forum

Speaking as a panelist at the Legal Update panel at ELFA's 2021 Credit & Collections Management Conference

Speaking as a panelist at the Legal Update panel at ELFA's 2021 Legal Forum

Speaking as a panelist at ELFA's 2020 Webinar: Covid-19's Hidden Costs: Bankruptcy, Repossessions & Challenging Legislation

Speaking as a panelist on the Legal Update panel at ELFA's 2019 Legal Forum

Speaking as a panelist on the Legal Update panel at ELFA's 2019 Credit & Collections Conference

Speaking as a panelist on the Legal Update panel at ELFA's 2018 Credit & Collections Conference

Speaking as a panelist at ELFA's 2017 Equipment Management Conference and Exhibition on the topic of forbearance agreements

Sean Gillen

Kutak Rock LLP

Sean Gillen is a member of the Kutak Rock's Corporate Department, working primarily in the Asset Finance and Restructuring Group. Sean represents borrowers, lessees, lenders, lessors and credit enhancers in asset acquisitions, dispositions and financings throughout the United States, including loan and lease financings, syndications, securitizations, restructurings, workouts and bankruptcies.

Sean is involved in transactions covering a wide variety of structures, including tax leases, tax exempt loans, municipal leases, credit facilities, leveraged leases and structured financings as well as syndications of all of the foregoing. In addition to traditional real and personal property, Sean handles transactions involving specialized assets, including aircraft, vessels and rail cars.

Outside of work, Sean enjoys spending time with his wife, Erin, and their children, Griffin and Haper, as well as tending to the family cat, Marc Twinkles, and the numerous deer, turkey, squirrels, raccoons, possum, birds and other critters frequenting the yard. In his sparse free time, Sean listening to music, reading and watching television. In addition, Sean is actively involved with Church of the Holy Spirit in Plattsmouth, Nebraska.

For more information, please direct your browser to http://www.kutakrock.com/Sean-Gillen.

Brian Glassberg

Associate General Counsel - Rail
GATX Corporation

Marshall Goldberg

Partner
Glass & Goldberg, A Law Corporation

Marshall F. Goldberg is the Managing Partner and a founder of Glass & Goldberg. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1976 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History and Political Science, and was a member of the Dean's Honor List throughout his university tenure. He graduated from Loyola University School of Law, Los Angeles in 1979 with Honors.

Marshall's expertise includes both litigation and transactional matters in the areas of commercial finance law, regulatory compliance with lender licensing, corporate restructuring, equipment leasing, secured and unsecured transactions, creditor rights, real estate, commercial mortgage back securities and insolvency law. He specializes in the representation of creditors, servicers and real estate owners, including major banks, equipment lessors, credit and capital corporations, factors, merchant cash advance companies, finance companies, thrifts and other funding sources and lenders. Mr. Goldberg has served as lead counsel in well over one hundred major trials. He has been an active member and leader for many years in financial institution associations, including the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association ("ELFA"), the National Vehicle Leasing Association ("NVLA") and the National Equipment Finance Association (“NEFA”), and its predecessors.

Marshall was listed in the February 2013-2021 issues of Los Angeles Magazine as one of the top lawyers is Southern California.

Marshall was showcased in the December 2011 issue of Forbes Magazine, as the Magazine’s exclusive Southern California choice for outstanding lawyer in Bankruptcy, Property, Commercial and Creditor/Debtor Rights law.

Marshall has been selected for the past twelve (12) consecutive years for inclusion in “Super Lawyers Magazine,” which represents only 5 percent of the lawyers in the State of California. Super Lawyers is a listing of outstanding lawyers, chosen from a rigorous, multiphase process, who have attained high peer recognition and professional achievement.

Marshall is the recipient of the annual “Edward A. Groobert Award for Legal Excellence” presented on behalf of the ELFA Lawyers. This is the highest award given to an attorney by a peer group of hundreds of both in house and outside counsel.

For ELFA, Marshall serves on the Legal Committee and has served on the Credit and Collections Management Committee, and as a member of the Editorial Review Board of the Journal of Equipment Lease Financing. He has been the Chairman of the Professional Development, Education and Information Sub-Committee for the ELFA Legal Committee. He is responsible for developing, organizing, managing and editing the Legal Website, which includes an online compendium of legal issues pertaining to the 50 States, "What's New in the Law", and the "Catalogue of Legal Information". With the assistance of the ELFA staff, he developed, chaired and monitored the Legal Listserve, an online forum for attorneys to discuss pertinent legal issues on a daily basis. Marshall is co-author and co-editor of the Executive Guide to Remedies, and the Executive Guide to Lease Documentation.

Marshall also extensively speaks and instructs within the legal and business communities. He has given numerous educational and strategic seminars throughout the United States on subjects including Loan and Lease Enforcement, Mixed Collateral, Fraud Prevention, Creditors’ Rights in Bankruptcy, the Seller Assisted Marketing Plan Act (SAMP), Revised Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code, the Uniform Personal Property Leasing Act, Commercial Mortgage Back Securities and their Servicing and the Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act. He is a regular panel speaker at a multitude of legal education seminars for the commercial financial services industry on such topics as the Uniform Commercial Code and real property secured transactions. He provides annual legal update presentations for financial association lawyers, including written summaries of current case and statutory law. Also, Marshall frequently speaks to bar associations on the topics of pre-judgment and post-judgment remedies and bankruptcy. Marshall’s legal writings include publications on topics relating to commonly litigated contractual provisions, on the Uniform Commercial Code and on collateral preservation and disposition. His weekly blog can be found at www.glassgoldbergblog.com and his monthly update Newsletter is available upon request.

Marshall sits on the Executive Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Provisional and Post Judgment Remedies Section, and is a member of the Commercial and Bankruptcy Sections of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, the Financial Lawyers' Conference and the State Bar of California.

Marshall has earned the highest rating from Martindale-Hubbell.

Barbara Goodstein

Partner
Mayer Brown LLP

Barbara M. Goodstein is a partner in the Banking & Finance practice of the New York office of Mayer Brown LLP. Barbara's experience consists of commercial and structured financing as well as restructuring of transactions for a wide range of asset types including auto, trade, health care, timeshare and lease receivables, sports franchises, intellectual property, transportation equipment (including aircraft, aircraft engines, railcars and vessels), technology equipment, medical equipment, communications and office equipment, construction equipment, and marine and inter-modal containers. She also has extensive debt workout and restructuring experience primarily representing senior creditors and syndicate groups, bondholders, and secured creditors both in and out of bankruptcy; foreclosures, DIP and exit financing; contested and consensual bankruptcy matters; and other financial and legal restructurings.

Barbara is a featured columnist for The New York Law Journal's Secured Transactions section and a former Regent, and current Fellow of the American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers. She previously served as a member of the Board of Editors of Equipment Leasing Newsletter and the Uniform Commercial Code Law Journal. She also previously served on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the ELFA, and is currently a member of the Legal Committee Subcommittee on Air, Rail and Marine.

Barbara has been recognized as an outstanding lawyer by ELFA, having received ELFA's Legal Committee Edward A. Groobert Excellence in Leasing Award in 2015. She is a Life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and recently chaired a Task Force for the ABA Committee on Structured Finance and Securitization. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Port Chester-Rye Brook Public Library.

Jennifer Gould

Shareholder

Jennifer D. Gould is a Shareholder at Stark & Stark, PC, a regional law firm with offices in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York, where she is a member of the Bankruptcy & Creditor's Rights, Litigation, and Business & Corporate Groups. Jennifer represents financial institutions, equipment lessors, private equity firms, and other businesses in state, federal and bankruptcy courts nationwide. She also counsels clients in connection with commercial loan and lease documentation as well as general corporate legal issues. Jennifer is a long time member of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) and serves on ELFA's Legal Committee following six years on the Credit & Collection Management Conference Committee. Jennifer has published articles and lectured on a wide range of issues pertaining to the turnaround and equipment leasing industries. She resides in Bucks County, Pennsylvania with her husband and son.

Benjamin Gross Esq

Partner
Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP

Benjamin is a long time member of ELFA and is a part of the committee that organizes this Legal Forum. He is a partner in the Montreal office of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Canada’s largest law firm. His practice is centered around three fields of law: Debt Financing (including traditional bank loans, speciality loans (air, rail, marine, consumer) and others), Leasing and Inventory Financing, (securitization and alternative financing), Real Estate (traditional and non-traditional, such as infrastructure projects and mines) and Mergers and Acquisitions. He acts in local, cross-border and international deals and projects from inception (including structuring) to close. Benjamin is recognized by (i) Lexpert for his expertise in Asset Equipment Finance/Leasing (since 2015), Mining (since 2018) and Infrastructure (since 2018); and (ii) The Best Lawyers in Canada in Project Finance Law. Benjamin is an active member of multiple industry organizations, non-profit endeavours, community organisations, and is a proud husband and father.

Edward Gross

Shareholder
Vedder Price P.C.

Edward K. Gross is a Shareholder at Vedder Price and a member of the Global Transportation Finance team.

He established the firm’s Washington, DC office and has over 30 years of experience representing bank-affiliated and large, independent equipment financing companies in all aspects of equipment finance transactions, including documenting, structuring, negotiating, syndicating and enforcing these transactions. Mr. Gross handles all types of equipment finance matters and structures, including single-investor, leveraged financings, true/ tax motivated leases, synthetic leases, TRAC leases, “bundled” and other vendor-originated financings, and domestic and cross-border financings, primarily for transportation equipment, but also for other types of equipment, including: manufacturing and assembly line, construction and drilling, energy-related and other facilities, medical and health-related facilities, high-tech equipment (including “bundled” financings), trucks and trailers, modular units and vessel repair equipment.

Mr. Gross is considered an industry leader in business aircraft and helicopter finance. These transactions vary in structure and include tax and non-tax lease, operating lease and secured loan financing of managed and/or chartered aircraft, fleet aircraft and helicopters operated in various service capacities (e.g., air ambulances, oil and gas service, flight schools, etc.) and engine pools, aircraft operated under fractional and “pay card” arrangements and progress payment, completion and other multi-funding structures. Clients include market-leading aircraft and helicopter financing providers, investors or operating lessors, as well as large publicly or privately held businesses, governmental entities or high-net-worth individual users. Many of these transactions involve foreign registered aircraft.

Many clients rely on Mr. Gross in syndication transactions, including large portfolio purchases, “one-off” sales and assignments, discounting, back-leveraging and participation transactions. He has worked with Vedder Price’s Capital Markets team on securitizations of diverse asset classes. Mr. Gross has prepared lease, loan and syndication forms for many of the most active financing providers in the industry. Working with Vedder Price’s well-regarded bankruptcy and creditors’ rights practice, Mr. Gross has assisted financing providers, including various creditor groups, with workout, restructuring, bankruptcy and enforcement matters.

Mr. Gross has been selected for inclusion in numerous editions of Who's Who Legal’s The International Who's Who of Aviation Lawyers, including the 2014 edition in which Mr. Gross participated in a roundtable discussion. In the 2013 edition of that publication, Mr. Gross is named one of the top 500 aviation lawyers in the world, and is cited as “a go-to lawyer for finance, insolvency and restructuring…well-respected by commercial clients.” In 2016 through 2020, Mr. Gross was ranked Band 1 in Private Aircraft (Global-wide) in Chambers High Net Worth, which recognizes the world’s leading high net worth advisers. In addition, in 2013 Mr. Gross was ranked in Chambers USA in the Nationwide Banking & Finance: Equipment Finance & Leasing category. He was selected by his peers for inclusion in Washington DC Super Lawyers (2007–2020) and The Best Lawyers in America (2007–2021) in the field of Equipment Finance Law. Mr. Gross was elected as Fellow to the American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers in 2011, and elected as Regent to the College in 2012. He has been recognized by the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA), receiving the Distinguished Service Award in 2008 and ELFA’s Legal Committee Edward A. Groobert Excellence in Leasing Award in 2011.

A client respondent in Airfinance Journal’s 2011 Guide to Aviation Lawyers mentions, “Vedder Price can turn a deal in a day or two if necessary. Ed Gross is our go to person for time-sensitive matters.” He also recognized among the world’s leading aviation attorneys by in Euromoney’s Expert Guides “Aviation Guide” from 2013 to 2020.

Mr. Gross obtained his B.A. from the University of Maryland and his J.D. from the University of Baltimore School of Law.

Marc Hamroff

Partner
Moritt Hock & Hamroff LLP

Marc L. Hamroff serves as the Managing Partner of Moritt Hock & Hamroff LLP with offices in Garden City and Manhattan. He also Chairs the firm's Financial Services Practice which includes the Bankruptcy, Equipment Leasing, Secured Lending and Creditors' Rights Groups. He provides special concentration in litigation, workout and bankruptcy matters nationwide. In his capacity as head of the Financial Services Group, he has spearheaded the representation of secured lenders, banks and lessors in a wide range of transactions. Mr. Hamroff also works closely with the firm's Litigation Group and actively handles a wide variety of commercial litigation cases including injunction and attachment proceedings, business divorce/separation cases and restrictive covenant disputes. In addition, he regularly provides educational and strategic seminars on a multitude of issues affecting the leasing and secured lending community.

Mr. Hamroff earned his Juris Doctor from Hofstra University School of Law where he currently serves as an adjunct professor of law teaching Secured Transactions. He is a member of the Dean's Advisory Board and Business Law Advisory Committee. His firm also established The Moritt Hock & Hamroff fellowship in support of Hofstra Law's Access to Justice Incubator.

In addition to his legal career, Mr. Hamroff is a long standing member of the Board of Directors of the American Heart Association-Long Island Division where he currently serves as its Chairman. Under his leadership as Chairman, his Board was one of only two regional boards recognized as a Gold Standard Board for excellence in promoting the AHA's mission of helping Americans live a life free of heart disease and stroke.

John Heninger

Chief Counsel
U.S. Bank

John Heninger is Chief Counsel of U.S. Bank Equipment Finance, a division of U.S. Bank National Association, and of its indirect subsidiary, U.S. Bancorp Government Leasing and Finance, Inc. U.S. Bank Equipment Finance, one of the largest equipment finance providers in the nation, has been providing quality equipment finance solutions for more than 40 years and is a major funding source for companies in virtually every industry sector nationwide. U.S. Bancorp Government Leasing and Finance, Inc. is a major provider of tax exempt equipment leasing and other financing solutions for state and local governments throughout the United States. John has served as in house counsel to U.S Bank Equipment Finance since 1998. He manages the law division of Equipment Finance, which includes six attorneys and two paralegals, and also supports lease and loan originations, with primary focus on compliance, syndications, aircraft finance, and government finance. Before joining the U.S. Bank Law Division, John was Assistant General Counsel to the Port of Portland (Portland, Oregon) and an associate with the law firms of Miller Nash, Morrison & Foerster and Latham & Watkins. He previously served on the Legal Committee of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association.

John holds a B.A. from Colorado College, an M.B.A. from Thunderbird School of Global Management, and a J.D. from the University of Iowa College of Law.

Andrew Hodhod

Partner
Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Andrew Hodhod is a partner in the Financial Services Group of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP. His practice focuses on all aspects of lending, leveraged finance, secured transactions, restructuring and the regulation of financial institutions.

Andrew is licensed to practise in the provinces of Ontario and Québec. He regularly represents financial institutions, private lenders, lessors, inventory financiers and borrowers in connection with private and public financings, syndicated and cross-border loans, alternative financings, leasing, inventory and equipment finance transactions and vendor programs.

About Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

As the largest, truly full-service Canadian law firm, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG) delivers practical legal advice for domestic and international clients across more practices and industries than any Canadian firm. With over 725 lawyers, intellectual property agents and other professionals, BLG serves the legal needs of businesses and institutions across Canada and beyond – from M&A and capital markets, to disputes, financing, and trademark & patent registration.

Lawrence Holmes

Principal Attorney
Offit Kurman PC

C. Lawrence (“Larry”) Holmes is a Principal and Chair of Offit Kurman’s Commercial Litigation Practice Group. Since entering private practice in 1993, he has established a track record of landmark legal successes and longstanding client partnerships — work that includes pivotal cases that have impacted Pennsylvania law. Larry focuses his practice on representing finance lease companies and other institutional clients. As a passionate advocate for his clients, he is skilled at humanizing large institutions and effectively communicating with juries and judges.

As a highly skilled litigator, Larry has successfully argued before the Superior and Supreme Courts of Pennsylvania and helped establish new insurance law in Pennsylvania. He secured a milestone victory for a finance lease company when a federal judge denied a motion to certify a class action against it as part of a claim exceeding $37 million. In addition to defending the motion for class certification, Larry obtained summary judgment against the lessees on all claims and counterclaims. He also obtained an order that the lessees were liable, jointly, and severally, for all the leasing company’s legal fees. The decision is a powerful tool for financial institutions in cases and class actions arising from program failures.

An engaging legal thought leader, Larry was appointed to ELFA’s Legal Committee in 2015. He has also presented numerous times at ELFA’s Legal Forum since 2011, most recently as a panelist in the Legal Update and the Ethics presentations in 2023.

Larry received his J.D. from Villanova University School of Law and upon graduation, he served as a Law Clerk to the Honorable Chief Justice Robert N. C. Nix, Jr. of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court — writing opinions, providing counsel, and learning the skills of passionate persuasion and respectful dissent that would inform his career.

As an elected Township Commissioner, and President of the Board of Commissioners, Larry is also committed to public and community service. He is currently serving his fifth term as the Sixth Ward Commissioner of Haverford Township, Delaware County, PA, where he has resided with his family for over two decades.

Robert Ihne

Robert W. Ihne is an attorney with over twenty-five years of experience in commercial financing, primarily in the areas of secured transactions and equipment leasing. Such experience has included drafting, negotiating and providing advice related to direct transactions, syndications, vendor financing, and forms of credit enhancements such as guaranties and letters of credit.

Mr. Ihne was employed by CIT, which engages in many types of asset-based financing, for over twenty years. In addition to the usual transactional work there, he bore primary responsibility for educating CIT’s attorneys and businesspeople concerning the implications of the revisions to Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code that took effect in 2001. He was previously associated with the New York law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore and the New Jersey law firm of Pitney, Hardin, Kipp & Szuch, and clerked for Hon. John J. Gibbons of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He has recently consulted for DLL.

Mr. Ihne is a Member of The American Law Institute and a Member of the Board of Regents of the American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers. He has been a member of the Legal Committee of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association and various subcommittees thereof, and was a recipient of the ELFA Excellence in Leasing Award for 2006. He is a member of the Board of Editors of, and contributor to, LJN’s Equipment Leasing Newsletter. He is also a member of the Business Law Section of the American Bar Association.

Mr. Ihne was a member of the faculty for the ALI-ABA course of study called The Emerged and Emerging New Uniform Commercial Code” and The New Uniform Commercial Code held in New York City, Washington, D.C. and Boston from 2000 through 2007 and was a member of a panel sponsored by the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education entitled “UCC Article 9 – Secured Transactions: A Year Later” in June of 2002.

Adam Jackson

Partner
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

Adam's practice focuses primarily on structured finance transactions and asset-based financings.

Adam advises sellers and purchasers on public and private securitization transactions involving various asset classes, including auto loans and leases, railcar leases, residential and commercial mortgage loans, credit cards and trade receivables, and on whole-business securitizations.

Adam regularly acts on cross-border asset-based financings, including cross-border securitizations, factoring arrangements and cross-border lending. He has advised purchasers, sellers and servicers in Canada, the United States and Europe on the Canadian aspects of such cross-border transactions.”

Jack Jacobson

Advisor
Thompson Coburn LLP

Horace Jordan

EVP & General Counsel
Kingsbridge Holdings, LLC

Mr. Jordan is Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Kingsbridge Holdings, LLC and its operating subsidiaries Trilogy Leasing Co., LLC, Capital Technology & Leasing, L.L.C. and Western States Equipment Holdings, LLC. He also is one of Kingsbridge's founding members. Mr. Jordan is responsible for the legal and administrative operations of Kingsbridge and its subsidiaries.

Prior to joining Kingsbridge, Mr. Jordan was with Relational, LLC as Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary from 2001 through 2005 where he managed the legal and human resources departments and was a member of Relational's Executive Committee. From 1991 through 2000, Mr. Jordan was with the law firm of Jenner & Block where he was a partner for five years specializing in litigation and business disputes. From 1998 to 1990, Mr. Jordan was an associate with the law firm of Baker & McKenzie in Chicago and in Hong Kong specializing in corporate law and international transactions.

Mr. Jordan has served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Chicago Law School teaching courses on Privacy Rights in Employment. He has published multiple articles on tax and commercial law issues as well as the role of in-house counsel and is a frequent speaker at continuing legal education conferences. He has been a member of leadership for many years with the American Bar Association and is a board officer for several not-for-profit organizations.

Mr. Jordan received his Juris Doctor degree cum laude from Northwestern University School of Law and received his Bachelors of Science degree magna cum laude from Tufts University.

Mr. Jordan resides in Lake Forest, Illinois with his very understanding wife Diana and his four “nearly perfect” daughters Calla, Gwen, Taryn and Charlotte. When not otherwise engaged in family activities, Mr. Jordan's interests include travel, athletics, performing arts, politics, reveling in the success of the Beelzebubs acappella singing group and rooting for the Northwestern Wildcats, Chicago Blackhawks, Chicago Cubs, and Chicago Bears.

Scott Kearns

Senior Legal Director
Dell Financial Services

Scott is a 20+ year veteran of the leasing and financing industry having worked for small, medium and large ticket organizations. For the past 11+ years, he has supported Dell Techonologies' captive finance organization, Dell Financial Services.

Brian Kestenbaum

Senior Vice President and General Counsel
LEAF Commercial Capital Inc.

Brian Kestenbaum is the Senior Vice President and General Counsel for LEAF Commercial Capital, Inc. LEAF, headquartered in Philadelphia, PA, is one of the leading equipment leasing and finance companies in the U.S. Through its highly automated origination platform, it facilitates the equipment needs of small, mid-sized and enterprise businesses. LEAF serves these needs both directly and through referral relationships with manufacturers, distributors and dealers of essential-use equipment and software in a variety of business sectors, including office products, telephony, technology, medical and light industrial.

Prior to joining LEAF, Mr. Kestenbaum was counsel in the corporate department of Ledgewood, P.C. Previously, Mr. Kestenbaum was an associate at the law firms, Ballard Spahr and Piper & Rudnick LLP. Mr. Kestenbaum is a past chairman of the ELFA Legal Committee.

Mr. Kestenbaum graduated from the Villanova University School of Law, cum laude. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

Mark Kohler

Shareholder
Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz PC

Mark D. Kohler is the General Counsel Capital Markets/Syndications of GE Capital US Holdings, Inc. GE Capital provides financial solutions and services to a broad range of industries throughout the United States and the World. As General Counsel Capital Markets/Syndications, Mr. Kohler manages GE Capital's Capital Markets/Syndication Legal Department and provides legal advice, strategy and expertise to GE Capital's Capital Markets Group and all the GE business units whose transactions are syndicated through GE Capital's Capital Markets Group.

Mr. Kohler was previously Senior Syndication Counsel, Syndication Counsel and General Counsel where he provided legal support for the syndication activities of the GE Capital Americas, Capital Solutions and Commercial Equipment Financing units of GE Capital and Region Counsel where he provided legal support for the Syndication and Third Party Origination business units of the Commercial Equipment Financing unit of GE Capital. Prior to joining GE in 1997, Mr. Kohler was an associate with the law firm of Ober, Kaler, Grimes & Shriver in Baltimore, Maryland.

He holds a Bachelor's Degree (Summa Cum Laude) from the University of Maryland and a Juris Doctor (with Honors) from The George Washington University National Law Center.

Mr. Kohler is the Chairman of the Legislative & Regulatory Subcommittee of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association's ("ELFA") Legal Committee, is a Fellow with the American College of Commercial Lawyers, received the Edward A. Groobert Excellence in Leasing Award in 2013, served on ELFA's Legal Committee from 2006-2008 and is a frequent speaker at ELFA and GE events.

Jennie Kratochvil

Partner
Mayer Brown LLP

Anthony Lamm

VP-Senior Counsel
First Citizens Bank Equipment Finance

29 Years of Secured Lending experience including both in-house counsel and private legal practice. Advanced practice in Article 9 and Article 2A of the Uniform Commercial Code. Accomplished Commercial Attorney in practice areas of Equipment Financing (Syndication, Vendor Relationships, Custom Master Leases and Assignee Relationships, Workouts and Restructuring), Middle Market Banking (commercial loan regulatory issues and compliance, Creditor Loan Agreements, negotiation and documentation - Real Estate, Construction, Manufacturing and Service-Related industries and Transportation with titled vehicles), Asset Based Lending and SBA loans, Negotiation, Documentation, Workouts, Restructuring, Creditor Bankruptcy and Commercial Collections.

Portfolio of exclusive financial institution clients ranging from Small Ticket Leasing companies to National Banks. Developed client base through authoring legal articles, panel presentations at client financial conferences and, unique client management, development and reporting strategies.

Advanced Article 9 and Article 2A advice and interpretation, particular experience in Personal Property Lien Disputes and Remarketing and Consignment Issues. Recent publications include ECOA's Reg B and Consumer Leasing.

Negotiating and drafting Commercial Equipment Leases, Loans and Collateral Agreements for Equipment Lessors, Banks and Finance Companies and Commercial Creditors' Rights litigation, including mortgage foreclosure, bankruptcy and enforcement of delinquent problem loans and equipment leases.

Supervise outside counsel, admitted Pro Hac Vice in multiple states.

Amanda Lawrence

Partner
Buckley LLP

Dominic Liberatore

Deputy General Counsel
DLL

Dominic A. Liberatore is the Deputy General Counsel for DLL, a global provider of leasing and business finance solutions, including vendor finance.

Mr. Liberatore has been practicing law for 35 years focusing on leasing and asset based lending, and has served in a variety of senior in-house legal positions with DLL, IOS Capital, Inc. (the captive finance subsidiary of IKON Office Solutions, Inc.), Copelco Financial Services Group, Inc. and the FDIC. Prior to going in-house, Mr. Liberatore was an associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York City and Wolf Block in Philadelphia. Mr. Liberatore is a past chairman of the ELFA Legal Committee, current ELFA Subcommittee Coordinator and a past chairman of the Subcommittee on Leasing of the Uniform Commercial Code Committee of the ABA Business Law Section. Mr. Liberatore is also a member of the Editorial Review Board for the Journal of Equipment Lease Financing.

Mr. Liberatore holds a J.D. from Vanderbilt University and a B.A. from the University of Buffalo.

Todd Lloyd

Counsel
Wells Fargo Equipment Finance

Sherry Lowe Johnson

Director, Senior Counsel
Volvo Financial Services

Sherry Lowe Johnson has over 20 years of experience representing financial institutions, equipment leasing companies and special purpose entities on a myriad of legal issues and concerns, including litigation, regulatory and compliance, and transactional matters. She is a highly requested speaker on issues concerning representation of lenders and bankruptcy-related issues.

Bruce Masterson

General Counsel
First American Equipment Finance, an RBC / City National Company

Bruce has served as General Counsel for First American Commercial Bancorp, Inc. for the last thirteen years and has worked as both in-house and outside counsel to several leasing companies over the last twenty-eight years. Bruce received his undergraduate degree from the College of William and Mary and his law degree from the University of Pittsburgh, where he was a member of the Law Review. Bruce is a member of the Massachusetts and Pennsylvania Bars and was Chairman of the EFLA Legal Committee for 2012.

David Mayer

Partner, Aviation & Business Transactions
Shackelford, Bowen, McKinley & Norton, LLP

David Mayer 40 years of experience in representing clients in buying, selling, restructuring, leasing and financing a wide range of equipment with a heavy emphasis on business aircraft.

His practice in private aircraft matters includes federal regulatory compliance, federal and state tax planning, purchases, sales, leasing and financing, risk management and aircraft operations. He is adept at negotiating transactions and disputes with OEMs. David often represents high wealth individual and corporate aircraft owners, flight departments.

He takes a common sense business approach to working with his clients and in transactions, honed in part by 13 years of serving as corporate counsel in the equipment finance and energy industries. His international work frequently involves cross-border transactions between the U.S. and one or more other countries.

Since 2001, when his book, Business Leasing for Dummies, was published, Mr. Mayer has been a valued conference speaker and writer on topics within his practice.

When David represents borrowers and lessees, he enjoys working with colleague and friends acting for the financiers, which results in efficiently and effectively closing deals and fostering good relationships among lawyers and business people alike.

Bonnie Michael

Shareholder
Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz PC

Bonnie Michael, a shareholder at Baker Donelson, has more than 20 years of legal experience representing equipment finance companies and the financial services industry. She guides banks, financial institutions, equipment and leasing companies, and other lenders in structuring and negotiating their complex finance transactions, as well as advising on commercial financing disclosure laws and other regulatory matters. She has extensive experience advising clients on motor vehicle fleet financing.

Prior to joining Baker Donelson, Ms. Michael served for more than a decade as the General Counsel and Vice President of Legal and Compliance (USA) for Volvo Financial Services. She served on the Board of Trustees for the Equipment Leasing & Financing Foundation from 2015 – 2021 and is a former member of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) Legal Committee. From 2010 – 2016, Ms. Michael served as chair of the ELFA Motor Vehicle Subcommittee. She is a frequent presenter on industry topics and actively supports various ELFA legislative initiatives. Ms. Michael is the 2021 recipient of the ELFA's 2021 Edward A. Groobert Award for Legal Excellence.
Ms. Michael holds a J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law and is admitted to practice law in Illinois.

David Miele Esq.

Chief Administrative Officer
Citizens Asset Finance, a division of Citizens Bank, N.A.

David Miele is an SVP and Chief Administrative Officer of Citizens Asset Finance, Inc. (“CAF”)which operates as a division of Citizens Bank, N.A. David has responsibility for CAF’s Documentation Teams (in Warwick, RI and Chicago, IL), the Customer Support Team, Process Improvements and runs the CAF Legal Team of four other attorneys and a paralegal.

David is an active participant with ELFA currently serving on the following subcommittees of the Legal Committee: Capital Markets, Motor Vehicle, Amicus Curiae, Legal Award and Equipment Leasing & Finance Magazine. He previously chaired the Legal Committee in 2006, and served on the ELFA Financial Institutions Business Council Steering Committee from 2013 to 2017. David was the primary drafter of the ELFA Revised Code of Ethics promulgated in 2007. He has been a frequent lecturer at the ELFA Legal Forum and on web based seminars focusing on various aspects of equipment finance and documentation. He has also presented the ELFA Guest Lecture Program at local colleges and universities.

Deena Miller

Senior Counsel
Key Equipment Finance

Deena Miller has been an integral member of the Key Equipment Finance legal team since 2013. In this role, she is responsible for acting as a strategic advisor to clients regarding new laws and regulations and advising clients and co-workers of compliance requirements; identifying and assessing legal and enterprise risk and providing holistic business solutions that support risk mitigation .

Previously, she served as Vice President of Asset Recovery, Director of Products and Markets and as an analyst for Asset Management at Key Equipment Finance. Prior to joining Key, Deena held a variety of legal and leadership roles as both in-house counsel and at law firms.

Deena earned her bachelor’s degree in molecular biology and biochemistry from the University of Colorado at Boulder and JD from Emory University. She continues to support the University of Colorado through volunteer efforts at the Leeds School of Business.

She resides in Colorado with her husband and two children (with one on the way).

Lisa Moore

Sr. Counsel
PNC Equipment Finance

Lisa Moore serves as Senior Counsel at PNC Equipment Finance, LLC, (“PNCEF”), headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, a wholly owned subsidiary of PNC Bank, N.A., where she is embedded in the business. Lisa has supported PNCEF and its predecessors for over eighteen years with a focus on front end support for rail and structured finance as well as operations and back end matters.

Lisa regularly conducts internal training on both front and back end topics. She is a member of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association's (ELFA) Amicus Brief Committee and currently serves on the ELFA Legal Committee. For 2020, Lisa is Chair of the Legal Committee. Lisa has previously presented at the ELFA Legal Forum on the topics of NorVergence, Chapter 11, Hot Topics and Inside and Outside Counsel.

Amina Musa

Associate

Mitchell Neider

Managing Director -Associate General Counsel
Bank of America Global Leasing

Mitchell (Mitch) Neider is the General Counsel for Bank of America Global Leasing, one of the leading bank-owned asset finance and leasing companies in the world, with offices throughout the US and internationally. He is a member of the senior management team and leads a group of attorneys responsible for supporting all aspects of the business.

Prior to joining Bank of America Merrill Lynch in 2010, Neider served in various legal and leadership roles at The CIT Group, De Lage Landen Financial Services and Soc Gen Equipment Finance.

Neider received his undergraduate degree from Cornell University and his J.D. from Rutgers School of Law – Camden.

Angel Nevarez

Senior Vice President & General Counsel
Jules and Associates, Inc.

Andrea Nicotera

Assistant General Counsel
U.S. Bank

Andrea Nicotera is Vice President and Assistant General Counsel to U.S. Bank National Association in Portland, Oregon. Prior to joining U.S. Bank, Andrea worked for K&L Gates LLP in Portland and Ballard Spahr LLP in Philadelphia where she represented clients in asset-based lending, renewable energy project finance, acquisition finance and real estate transactions. Before becoming a lawyer, Andrea was a project manager for software development projects, first for a small software company and later for a global consulting firm. She served on the ELFA Legal Committee from 2019-2021 and holds a JD from Temple University and a BA from Swarthmore College.

Bradley Nielsen

Partner
Kutak Rock LLP

Brad Nielsen is an attorney in Kutak Rock LLP’s Omaha office practicing in the Finance and Restructuring Group. He has practiced in the finance area for 33 years.

Brad represents financial institutions in many types of complex financing transactions in a wide array of industries, ranging from middle market transactions to large multi-lender syndicated deals. His practice includes: equipment leasing and financing transactions; asset-based lending; revolving and term loan credit facilities; public finance; lease and loan portfolio purchase and sale transactions; participations; vendor program agreements; real estate finance; and restructurings and workouts.

Kutak Rock LLP is a national law firm of more than 500 lawyers with offices from coast to coast in 17 cities. Founded in finance, the firm's primary practice concentrations are business and corporate law, public finance, commercial finance, litigation and real estate law.

Mariela Padres

Legal Counsel
Dell Financial Services

Stephen Patterson

Attorney
Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP

Frank Peretore

Member of the Firm
Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi PC

Frank Peretore has served as a trusted legal advisor and counselor to national and regional banks and finance companies ranging from closely held companies to Fortune 100 companies. Frank has over 30 years of experience in commercial lending and leasing with a concentration in equipment finance and leasing and other asset based lending. Frank's representation includes drafting master documentation for equipment leasing and asset based lending for direct and private label programs, TRAC, FMV and other true lease structures, leases intended as security, equipment finance agreements and vendor programs, as well as purchase/sale of one-off deals and full portfolios. Frank's representation has also included the enforcement of lessors' and secured creditors' rights in thousands of matters in the state, federal and bankruptcy courts.

As a long-standing leader in his field Frank has published highly-acclaimed books titled "Workouts and Enforcement for the Secured Creditor and Equipment Lessor," (Lexis/Nexis 2015 edition) and "Secured Transactions for the Practitioner, How to Properly Perfect Your Personal Property Lien and Assure Priority." In 2015, Frank was nominated by Leasing News as one of the 25 most influential attorneys in the U.S. in the Equipment Leasing and Finance Industry.

Prior to joining the firm, Frank was a founding member of the law firm of Peretore & Peretore, P.C.

Frank received his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center where he was a member of the Dean's List. Frank received his B.S. in Economics from State University of New York College at Oneonta where he graduated with high honors.

Kenneth Peters

Partner
Dressler & Peters, LLC

Ken Peters is a national counsel for several equipment finance companies, and has handled transactions, commercial litigation or bankruptcy matters in at least 48 states. He also acts as a national bankruptcy counsel for large industrial companies. Ken and Dennis Dressler founded Dressler | Peters LLC in 2007.

His past legal matters include: recovery of $7,000,000.00 in cash in a highly contentious lien dispute in US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois; defending a title company against a suit by a national bank seeking over $100,000,000.00 in damages; documenting large purchases of rail cars; providing advice on a $300,000,000.00 letter of credit; and drafting documents for truck financings including TRAC leases. Ken represented the senior lender in the Turnaround Management Association's 2013 Small Company Turnaround of the Year, arising out of the client's financing of five aircraft for an air ambulance company.

Ken has litigated cases that help to clarify the law in several areas of concern to funders. See, for example, Center Capital Corp. v. Marlin Air, Inc., No. 07-15128, 2008 WL 937491, at *3-5 (E.D. Mich. Apr.7, 2008) (finding plaintiff lender entitled under Michigan enactment of UCC to money judgment for full amount due under loan while simultaneously repossessing aircraft securing loan). In Alabama he litigated the rights of an equipment funder to file a UCC1 under the name of a representative party (to protect the identity of the funder in public records). In Mississippi and other states he litigated against equipment lessees seeking to include financed equipment in Chapter 13 bankruptcy estates. Like the many attorneys at ELFA, just when Ken thinks he has seen it all, something new arises.

He is also an Invited Observer to the Uniform Law Commission & American Law Institute Joint Committee on the Uniform Commercial Code and Emerging Technologies (1999-2022), which drafted amendments to Articles 2A and 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code, and wrote new Article 12.

Ken lives in Highland Park, Illinois, with three cats and his wife who is a public school orchestra director. Ken and his wife have three adult children.

Ralph Petta

Ralph Petta is the President and CEO of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA), the premier trade association representing 550+ member organizations in the $1 trillion equipment finance sector. Mr. Petta leads the organization in executing its mission to foster business development, deliver industry information and analysis, provide educational opportunities and advocate for the industry. He is also President of the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation, which is dedicated to inspiring thoughtful innovation and contributing to the betterment of the equipment leasing and finance industry.

Mr. Petta, an authority in the business of equipment finance, has been with the association since 1987. Before assuming the role of President and CEO in January 2016, he served as Chief Operating Officer for six years, providing coordination, direction and oversight of ELFA programs and services designed to add value to the association's member organizations. Prior to that, he served as Interim President. From 1987 to 2010 he was Vice President-Research & Industry Services, managing ELFA's information, benchmarking and market research initiatives. Throughout his career at ELFA, Mr. Petta has assumed leadership roles in virtually all functional areas within the organization, including governance, membership marketing, communications, business and professional development, state advocacy and the association's affiliated Foundation.

He is often quoted in industry trade publications and is a frequent speaker about the role of equipment finance in the U.S. economy and trends and developments in the equipment finance sector.

Mr. Petta is a member of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), as well as ASAE's Key Industry Association Committee (KIAC). He completed the ASAE/University of Maryland College of Business and Management executive development certificate program in association management. He also was selected for and participated in the ASAE Future Leaders Conference. Mr. Petta is a member of the Exchequer Club of Washington, DC.

Before joining ELFA, Mr. Petta worked for nine years in the office of United States Senator Sam Nunn, serving in a variety of professional capacities. He was Senator Nunn's legislative assistant when he left to join the association. Mr. Petta graduated from Syracuse University, earning a B.A. degree in political science.

Ann Pille

Partner
Reed Smith LLP

Ann is a partner in the Chicago office of Reed Smith's Financial Industry Group. Ann maintains a national practice through which she represents equipment lessors and lenders in connection with transaction originations, including analysis and structuring around risk issues, and restructurings, workouts, distressed debt litigation, foreclosures and insolvency proceedings. Her clients regularly include commercial finance and leasing companies, major banks and hedge funds. Ann’s practice includes a particular focus on the restructuring and workout of distressed fleet finance and franchise finance deals.

Greg Poole

Senior Counsel
BMO Bank N.A.

J. Gregory Poole is the Senior Counsel of BMO Harris Bank N.A. BMO Harris Bank provides a broad range of personal banking products and solutions for everyday banking, financing, and investing, as well as a full suite of integrated commercial and financial advisory services. As Senior Counsel, Mr. Poole oversees and provides legal, operational, market and documentation advice, strategy and expertise in support of the Capital Markets function of BMO Harris Bank's Transportation Finance business unit, including structuring, drafting, negotiating and closing syndication transactions, as well as advising and counseling the business on titling, UCC and insurance issues and matters.

Prior to joining BMO Harris Bank in 2016, Mr. Poole served as Senior Counsel Syndications at GE Capital for almost 10 years. Prior to that, Mr. Poole served as the General Counsel and Secretary of Volvo Aero Leasing, LLC and as the Associate General Counsel and Director of Volvo Financial Services North America. He began his legal career at Jefferson-Pilot Life Insurance Company in Greensboro, North Carolina, where his practice focused on equipment leasing and financing, private placements, commercial mortgage lending and real estate, general corporate law, and commercial transactions.

Mr. Poole holds Bachelor of Arts degrees (with distinction) in Economics and Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He received a Juris Doctor degree from Wake Forest University School of Law.

Mr. Poole currently serves as a member of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association ("ELFA") Legal Committee and is a frequent speaker at ELFA's Legal Forum.

John Rivers Jr

Senior Counsel

Kathryn Ryan

Partner
Buckley LLP

Kathryn “Katy” Ryan advises financial services companies on a variety of regulatory, licensing, compliance, and transactional matters, including federal and state compliance requirements, Secure and Fair Enforcement (S.A.F.E.) Act compliance, Federal Housing Administration (FHA) compliance, and the risks associated with the False Claims Act (FCA) and Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act (FIRREA).

A Partner in Buckley LLP’s Washington, D.C., office, Ms. Ryan represents banks, first and second mortgage originators and servicers, reverse mortgage originators and servicers, fulfillment service providers, commercial lenders and servicers, bank holding companies, private equity firms, finance companies, debt collection companies, financial institutions and technology companies, payment processors, money transmitters, and various related service providers. She assists clients with matters before state regulatory agencies, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), federal banking agencies, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac. She also provides strategic and tactical advice to help clients identify and secure the nationwide federal and state approvals necessary to achieve operational goals.

Sidney Scheinberg

Shareholder
Godwin Bowman

Sidney H. Scheinberg sits on the Executive Committee, and is Chair of the Bankruptcy and Creditors' Right Section with Dallas-based Godwin Bowman & Martinez, representing clients in complex and critical cases. The primary focus of Mr. Scheinberg's practice is on bankruptcy and business litigation matters, with an emphasis on the representation of secured creditors, such as automobile finance companies and national banking associations. His clients have included such luminaries as Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Hyundai, Honda, Nissan and GM Financial.

A former radio broadcaster, he has spoken at National Creditors Bar Association (NARCA) conferences, is a frequent speaker at National Association of Chapter Thirteen Trustees' meetings, and has taught a variety of Continuing Legal Education (CLE) courses on Bankruptcy.

Moorari Shah

Partner
Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLC

Moorari K. Shah is Partner in the Orange County and San Francisco offices of Sheppard Mullin. He represents banks, equipment finance companies, fintechs, mortgage companies, auto lenders, and other non-bank financial institutions in transactional, licensing, regulatory compliance, and government enforcement matters covering mergers and acquisitions, consumer and commercial lending and leasing, and supervisory examinations and enforcement actions involving state and federal agencies.

Mr. Shah received his J.D. from Boston University School of Law (cum laude) and his B.A. from Duke University. He is a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP) and a certified Six Sigma Black Belt.

Molly Simon CLFP

Senior Legal Counsel
DLL

Molly Simon is Senior Legal Counsel for De Lage Landen Financial Services, Inc ("DLL"). Ms. Simon provides legal support to DLL, including providing advice on legal issues related to lease and loan transactions, maintaining and updating standard documentation, developing documentation for new products, reviewing third party documentation and drafting language for customized and negotiated transactions.

Richard Tannenbaum

Partner
Reed Smith LLP

Richard is a partner in Reed Smith's Financial Industry Group. He focuses on wing to wing aspects of credit and risk issues arising in equipment finance transactions, including, deal origination, workouts and restructurings, bankruptcy, and litigation. Richard’s subject matter and industry experience includes commercial distribution finance, corporate finance and equipment finance on deals in the United States, Canada, and Latin America. Prior to joining the firm, Richard was at General Electric Capital Corporation where he was Executive Counsel in the Bankruptcy and Restructuring Center of Excellence and previously a member of the Risk and Loss Mitigation Center of Excellence at GE Capital Americas. Richard was also the leader of GE Capital Americas Legal Productivity Council and was responsible for developing innovative alternative fee programs with major law firms.

Michael Tobak III

Partner
Kutak Rock LLP

Mike Tobak is an attorney in the firm's Chicago office practicing in the Finance and Restructuring Group. He joined the firm after serving for more than 10 years as the general counsel of the health care equipment finance business of one of the largest finance companies in the United States.

Mr. Tobak represents financial institutions and borrowers in many types of complex financing transactions in a wide array of industries, ranging from smaller and middle market transactions to large multi-lender syndicated deals. The focus areas of Mr. Tobak's practice include equipment leasing and financing transactions, asset-based lending, working capital financings, revolving and term loan credit facilities, vendor program agreements, lease and loan portfolio purchase and sale transactions, securitizations, real estate and construction lending, acquisition financing, and bank regulatory matters.

Mr. Tobak is actively involved in the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA), serving as Chair of its Financial Services Regulations Subcommittee, and was the recipient of ELFA's Legal Committee Edward A. Groobert Excellence in Leasing Award in 2014. Mr. Tobak also is a frequent speaker at national leasing, lending and health care trade association conferences and events.

Christopher Trail

Executive Director & Assistant General Counsel
JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. – Equipment Finance Group

Edward Wang

Partner
Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Edward Wang is a partner in the Financial Services Group of BLG as well as a member of its China Focus Group. He has acted for lenders (various financial institutions and private lenders) and borrowers in a variety of debt-financing and lending transactions, including leveraged buy-out financings, aircraft acquisition and financing, multi-jurisdictional lending transactions, syndicated loans transactions, asset-based lending, and within the context of business combinations, corporate mergers, acquisitions and reorganizations. Edward also regularly acts for creditors, insolvency professionals, and debtors in various insolvency and restructuring proceedings including those under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act and the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act.

Edward also has experience in China-related financing and insolvency matters that are based in Canada. Edward speaks both Mandarin Chinese and English. He was born in Beijing, China, where he lived for a number of years.

Kenneth Weinberg

Partner
Rimon, P.C.

Ken Weinberg is a partner at Rimon P.C. and practices in the area of commercial finance, focusing on equipment leasing, equipment finance and energy finance. He represents bank-affiliated, captive, and independent finance companies in many transactional aspects of equipment leasing and finance, has experience with many types of equipment and facilities, and has been heavily involved in the creation of forms, policies and procedures for multiple bank-affiliated equipment leasing and finance companies. Ken has additional experience in the niche of energy financing, representing lenders, investors and developers in recourse and non-recourse financing transactions (debt and tax-driven sale-leasebacks) for energy facilities across the country and internationally, including biomass facilities, landfill-gas-to-energy projects, solar facilities, and natural-gas-fired plants. Ken contributes regularly to the equipment leasing and finance industry and, since 2002, has published approximately 100 editions of his regularly scheduled column, Dispatches from the Trenches, in the Monitor.

Stephen Whelan

Partner
Blank Rome LLP

As a partner in three different law firms for 44 years, Steve Whelan practices law in the New York office of Blank Rome LLP, where he concentrates his practice on lease financings, securitization, energy finance and secured lending. He is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School, has been a member of the ELFA Board of Directors and Legal Committee, Chair of the American Bar Association Subcommittee on Leasing, and a Visiting Lecturer on constitutional law at Princeton University.

Steve is co-author of the ABA Annual Survey on Developments in the Law of Leases. He has authored four books on U.C.C. Article 2A and the “Securitization” chapters in the Matthew Bender & Co. treatises on Commercial Finance and Equipment Leasing. From 2019 to 2022, he was an appointed observer to the ALI-ULC Subcommittee on Bundled Transactions.

William Wilson

Associate General Counsel & Vice President
BMO Transportation Finance

Bill is an Associate General Counsel for BMO Harris Bank N.A., Transportation Finance, US P&C, managing the legal team for Navistar Capital, a private label program with Navistar Financial Corporation, and the traditional core transportation finance business headquartered in Irving, Texas. The BMO Transportation Finance business provides commercial loans and leases to manufacturers, dealers and end users (owner/operators) in the over-the-road trucking industry throughout the United States. Bill is a member of the BMOTF senior leadership team, counseling his clients on Program/Operating Agreement matters, deal structures, transaction negotiations, business policies, enterprise risk management and day-to-day operational issues and strategic business planning.

Bill joined BMO Financial Group in January 2016, as part of BMO's acquisition of the Transportation Finance business from GE Capital. He started with GE Capital in 2004 as Associate General Counsel of Office Imaging for the Equipment Finance business of GE Capital Americas, responsible for legal oversight of the Ricoh Business Systems vendor program (formerly IKON Office Solutions, and world's largest independent distributor for office copiers and business solutions), and core finance business located in Moberly, Missouri, providing private label and lease and loan financing to manufacturers, dealers and end-users in office imaging industry across the United States.

Bill is a member of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) Motor Vehicle Sub-Committee and received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Management and Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Florida, in Gainesville, Florida.

David Wood

Partner