Legal Forum

This introductory panel provides a practical and strategic understanding of how bankruptcy impacts equipment lenders’ rights and remedies. Through a creditor-focused lens, panelists will walk participants through the lifecycle of a bankruptcy case and highlight the issues that matter most to equipment lenders and lessors—from the automatic stay and adequate protection to valuation, use of cash collateral, and assumption or rejection of executory contracts and leases. The discussion will address, among other topics, common pitfalls and leverage points, including relief from stay motions, perfection and priority challenges, and strategies for maximizing recovery in Chapter 11 and liquidation scenarios. Drawing on real-world experience, the panel will also explore how early engagement, documentation, and negotiation can materially affect outcomes. Attendees will leave with a solid foundational understanding of how bankruptcy affects equipment-secured creditors including actionable insights and a clearer framework for protecting collateral, preserving value, and making informed decisions when a customer enters bankruptcy.

Andrew Edson, Attorney, Iacuone McAllister Potter PLLC
Alexis Leventhal, Counsel, Campbell & Levine LLC
Gregory Michaels, Shareholder, Dickie, McCamey & Chilcote, P.C.
Kelly Neal, Shareholder, Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC

Owen Babcock, Partner, Padfield & Stout, LLP
Daniel Dvorak, Chief Legal Counsel, Choice Financial Group
Allyson Gale, Vice President of Federal Government Affairs, ELFA

Learn how e-signatures and e-Documents are being operationally implemented and used in the industry.  This session will also focus on best practices and how the recent UCC amendments may impact your underlying EF documentation.

Edward Gross, Shareholder, Vedder Price P.C.
Robert Cohen, Partner, Moritt Hock & Hamroff LLP
Dominic Liberatore, Deputy General Counsel, DLL

Join us for a lively exploration of the ever-changing world of municipal finance. This session will focus on the tangible issues around financing intangibles for state and local government entities, including legal and practical considerations. The panel will also discuss other developments such as state-level “Fair Access to Banking” laws and other updates you need to know to navigate in this segment.

Ben Hall, Senior Legal Counsel, DLL
Andrew Romshek, Partner, Kutak Rock LLP

An engaging, interactive session discussing some of the quirky existing state laws of which you may be unaware that may affect how you structure and/or enforce equipment finance transactions in certain jurisdictions.

Julia Gavrilov, Partner, Moritt Hock & Hamroff LLP
Debbie Devassy Babu, Shareholder, Darcy & Devassy PC
Ken Ito, Partner, Hemar, Rousso & Heald, LLP
Matthew Mollozzi, Member, Moore & Van Allen

When a lessee defaults or signals economic difficulty, what factors should a lessor consider in formulating its action plan, and what legal tools are available to best resolve the issues presented? This session addresses the items a lessor should evaluate and details the tactical options to consider in pursuit of a best-case solution.

Ben Court, Partner, Stinson LLP
Tony Champion, Director of Portfolio Risk, Northland Capital
Kevin Kitchen, Partner, Stinson LLP
Lisa Peters, Partner, Kutak Rock LLP

Moorari Shah, Partner, Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLC

Our panel of EF industry lawyers will present an overview on bundled equipment solutions (aka MES, hybrid deals & bundled deals), including some hot button issues, current practices, trends in the market, best practices and what you need to know about the recent UCC amendments for your bundled deals.

Steve Whelan, Blank Rome LLP
Ben Court, Partner, Stinson LLP
Edward Gross, Shareholder, Vedder Price P.C.
Dominic Liberatore, Deputy General Counsel, DLL

This roundtable brings together leaders across the equipment finance ecosystem for a candid conversation on fraud risk in a rapidly evolving market. Designed to be highly interactive, the session will focus on real world “war stories” from the past year, unpacking how fraud schemes actually surfaced, how they were detected (or missed), and what institutions wish they had done differently and how legal can play a role in the fraud solution. Panelists will also discuss recent court decisions and enforcement actions and explore how those cases are reshaping credit underwriting, collateral diligence, dealer relationships, and portfolio monitoring. Expect sharp insights, practical takeaways, and an honest discussion about how the fraud risk landscape in equipment finance has materially changed—and where the next pressure points are likely to emerge.

Carla Potter, Partner, Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP
Richard Tannenbaum, Partner, Reed Smith LLP
Jonathan Fleisher, Partner, Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP
Joe Davies, Partner, Smith Debnam Narron Drake Saintsing & Myers, LLP

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

Advanced UCC; OK, so you can spell “UCC”, but do you really know what’s in it? 

During our session the esteemed panelists will share their perspectives regarding various UCC EF-implicated topics, and some related practice considerations, including those oft-asked existential questions regarding:

• Did they really "accept"?
• Characterization - what is that really, and why should I care?
• What the UCC says that I should or shouldn’t do, or wouldn’t matter even if I do, when structuring, drafting, closing and managing your EF deals.
• Is it law yet? 2022 Amendments update.

Edward Gross, Shareholder, Vedder Price P.C.
Kristin Esche, SVP, Deputy General Counsel, Mitsubishi HC Capital America, Inc.

Analyze and explore the differentials between syndication and securitization and how it impacts the day-to-day practice of law in equipment finance.

Shari Bacsardi, Partner, Womble Bond Dickinson
Matthew Mollozzi, Member, Moore & Van Allen
Kevin MacLeod, Shareholder, Vedder
Anastasia Fanning, Partner, Chapman

Ever felt like you’re the only person in the room who doesn’t understand a specific legal "term of art", and now it's too late to ask? Or perhaps you have a high-stakes question about deal structures that you’re too afraid to ask your own GC?  

This is your chance to pull back the curtain. We’ve assembled a powerhouse panel featuring the heavy hitters of the Equipment Leasing and Finance world with experience in litigation, bankruptcy, transactional, in-house GC, and Sales/Operations.  

ANONYMOUSLY submit questions through the SLIDO App.  For this session only, there is no such thing as a stupid question, or even stupid people.  Whether you are curious about the granular mechanics of Chapter 11 Subchapter V, what the heck is securitization, the game theory behind a multi-million-dollar sales negotiation, how to handle opposing views from your own colleagues, or simply how to manage the friction between "Legal" and "Growth," our experts are here to provide their insights.

Jennifer Crastz, Partner, Hemar, Rousso & Heald LLP
Thomas Makens, Partner, Kutak Rock LLP
Allan Umans, General Counsel, Insight Capital Solutions LLC
Ken Ito, Partner, Hemar, Rousso & Heald, LLP

Kelli Roussos-Smith, Assistant General Counsel, M&T Bank

From servers and storage to power, cooling, and real estate, data centers sit at the crossroads of equipment finance and technology finance. As capital floods into digital infrastructure, this panel examines how legacy equipment finance concepts are being re engineered for modern tech assets—and where the legal and structural pressure points are emerging as data center financing scales at unprecedented speed.

Carla Potter, Partner, Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP
Colter Donahue, Senior Counsel, Huntington Equipment Finance
Mary Ann Stathopoulos, Managing Attorney, Cisco Systems Capital Corporation

Love complex structures? Find them maddening? Feel a mix of dread and excitement when a client drops one on your desk? This session is for you! We take on equipment finance's trickiest terrain: leases that flirt with being loans (and how to tell the difference); customers who hand off possession and use of your equipment (or is it inventory) to third parties; the always lively co-obligor versus guarantor debate; bundled and hybrid transactions that refuse to fit neatly into any box; sale-leasebacks; the unique joys of leasing and lending to government entities; and progress payment structures. Bring your war stories—and your questions.

Debbie Devassy Babu, Shareholder, Darcy & Devassy PC
Mike Tobak, Partner, Kutak Rock LLP
Ken Weinberg, Partner, CM Law