Happy New Year from LEAN

By: staff

Building the Network in 2013

With new members, new content, and an expanded webinar series taking shape, LEAN is looking to 2013 as the year to build an extended network of professional excellence across the U.S.

Catching Up After Hurricane Sandy

We were sorry we missed you in New Jersey in November at the National Equipment Finance Association (NEFA) Super Regional which was cancelled in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

LEAN was scheduled to repeat a popular breakout session, Policing Our Peers, that had drawn strong interest at the NEFA Funding Symposium in Washington, DC in September. Panelists Irwin M. Wittlin of Hemar Rousso and Heald, Patricia T. Reid of Marks & Weinberg, and Jennifer D. Gould of Stark & Stark along with John Rosenlund of Portfolio Financial Servicing discussed various aspects of state and federal laws affecting leasing companies and brokers and to reinforce the benefits of self-policing.

To make up the time lost to the hurricane, LEAN is planning to present the session as a webinar in the first quarter of 2013. Watch this space for details, and drop by our website for information on our past webinars and presentations.

The Next Wave of Webinars

Our 2013 webinar series is taking shape, and we need your feedback on the topics you’d like us to cover. So far, leasing executives have asked for a session on basic bankruptcy for leasing companies and a study of Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). This is your webinar series, so please drop us a line with your suggested topics.

Congratulations to Farleigh Wada Witt

Kudos to LEAN member Farleigh Wada Witt of Portland, OR on two year-end honors: U.S. News–Best Lawyers® included the practice in its list of best law firms in banking and finance (tier 2) for the third consecutive year, while founding shareholder Mark Wada was selected by his peers to be included in The Best Lawyers in America® 2013 in the field of banking law. The tagline for the firm of commercial bankruptcy and insolvency, corporate, creditors’ rights, and employment specialists: “Where smart trumps big.”

Quebec Court Decision Upholds Prior Obligation

A recent analysis co-authored by LEAN member Benjamin Gross of Lavery, de Billy LLP of Montreal reviewed a Quebec Superior Court decision in a dispute between the National Bank of Canada and GE Commercial Distribution Finance Canada. The case focused on a company, New World Zanotti Transblock Inc., that had granted mortgages (hypothecs, in Quebec law) to both lenders based on its accounts receivable. The court ruled that the bank erred by collecting receivables that were encumbered by GE’s hypothec, depositing the funds to Zanotti’s operating account, and distributing the proceeds to another creditor that was a bank subsidiary. Gross and co-author Étienne Guertin traced the decision and reviewed the principles of law that it addressed.

Lean Welcomes Smith Debnam

The Raleigh, SC firm of Smith Debnam joined LEAN in late November. Partners John Sperati and Tom Gray are specialists in construction law, equipment leasing and finance, commercial litigation, and creditors’ rights. Smith Debnam is an active member of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association and the National Equipment Finance Association.