Washington, D.C.—The Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) has awarded Moorari K. Shah, Partner at Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLC, and Ken Weinberg, Partner at Rimon, P.C., the Edward A. Groobert Award for Legal Excellence. ELFA Legal Committee Chair R. Scott Adams, Vice President of Legal & Compliance, North America at Volvo Financial Services, presented the award to Shah and Weinberg on May 8 at the ELFA Legal Forum in Fort Myers, Florida, in recognition of their significant contributions to the association and the equipment finance industry.

Moorari Shah

As a partner and co-leader of the Consumer Finance industry team based in the Orange County and San Francisco offices of Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLC, Moorari Shah specializes in representing fintech, mortgage companies, auto lenders and other non-bank institutions in a wide array of transactional, regulatory and government enforcement matters. Shah has been an active member of ELFA for 15 years. As a respected industry thought leader, he has served in a number of leadership roles within the association, including as Chair of the State Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Subcommittee and as a member of the following Committees: The Legal Committee, the Equipment Finance Regulatory and Compliance Subcommittee and the Motor Vehicle Subcommittee.

Shah also has played a critical role in promoting the equipment finance industry’s policy objectives. Most recently, as a leading authority on enhanced state financial disclosure requirements, Shah provided analysis and guidance to ELFA, its membership and specific issue workgroups. He has spoken on the topic at multiple ELFA events, including the Legal Forum, the Annual Convention, the Bank and Small Ticket Best Practices Roundtables, and a number of popular web seminars. He also has contributed numerous articles to the association’s Equipment Leasing & Finance magazine and the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation’s Journal of Equipment Lease Financing.

Shah received ELFA’s 2019 David H. Fenig Distinguished Service in Advocacy Award in recognition of his extraordinary contributions to the association’s state advocacy program. He 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.

Ken Weinberg

As a Partner at Rimon, P.C., Ken Weinberg’s areas of focus include equipment leasing and finance, banking and financial services and energy transactions. Weinberg has been an active member of ELFA for more than 20 years. A leader in his field who is conversant in a wide range of topics concerning equipment finance, he has contributed to ELFA and the equipment finance industry in many ways.

Weinberg has served as an information resource for ELFA members regarding legal issues impacting the equipment finance industry. He has participated in almost every ELFA Legal Forum since 2000, frequently serving as a speaker on a variety of topics, including the Uniform Commercial Code, suretyship and guaranties, structured finance and “merger up” transactions. In addition, Weinberg has contributed his expertise by writing approximately 100 articles on industry related topics, including for the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation's Journal of Equipment Lease Financing, with a focus on the Uniform Commercial Code, and was a research advisor to the Foundation’s study “The Impact of New Energy Production Technologies on Equipment Finance.”

Weinberg also has served in leadership roles within the association. From 2018 through 2021 he completed a term as a member of the Legal Committee. For the past five years he has been Vice Chair of the Energy Subcommittee of the Legal Committee, which keeps members abreast of developments in the leasing and financing of energy equipment and receivables.

Weinberg has been awarded an AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review rating by Martindale-Hubbell, which recognizes lawyers for their strong legal ability and high ethical standards. He also has been selected by American Lawyer Media and Martindale-Hubbell™ as a “Top Rated Lawyer in Lawyers in Banking & Finance Law.” He earned his J.D. from the University of Georgia School of Law (cum laude) where he was the Executive Articles Editor for the Journal of Intellectual Property, and a B.A. from Vanderbilt University (magna cum laude).

Pictured: ELFA President and CEO Ralph Petta (center) with the winners of the 2023 Edward A. Groobert Award, Moorari Shah (left) and Ken Weinberg, at the 2023 ELFA Legal Forum in Fort Myers, Florida.

About the Award

The Edward A. Groobert Award for Legal Excellence is named for ELFA’s long-time Secretary and General Counsel Edward A. Groobert, who was active in the legal affairs of the association from the mid-1960s until his retirement in 2010.

About ELFA

The Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) is the trade association that represents companies in the $1 trillion equipment finance sector, which includes financial services companies and manufacturers engaged in financing capital goods. ELFA members are the driving force behind the growth in the commercial equipment finance market and contribute to capital formation in the U.S. and abroad. Its 580 members include independent and captive leasing and finance companies, banks, financial services corporations, broker/packagers and investment banks, as well as manufacturers and service providers. For more information, please visit www.elfaonline.org.