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

Julia Gavrilov, Partner, Moritt Hock & Hamroff LLP

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

Carla Potter, Partner, Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP

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

Edward Gross, Shareholder, Vedder Price P.C.

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

Carla Potter, Partner, Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP

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