The Equipment Leasing and Finance Association awarded Barry S. Marks, founding shareholder of Marks & Associates, the Edward A. Groobert Award for Legal Excellence.

Marks received the award on May 8 at the ELFA Legal Forum in St. Pete Beach, FL. ELFA Legal Committee Chair Allan Umans, VP and general counsel at Pacific Rim Capital, presented the award to Marks in recognition of his significant contributions to the ELFA and the equipment leasing and finance industry.

Since 1977, Marks has concentrated his legal practice in the areas of equipment leasing and finance and commercial lending and he has been an active member of the ELFA for more than 30 years. He has served as a member of the association’s legal committee. He also has made many presentations and participated on numerous panels at the ELFA Legal Forum, an annual event for attorneys serving the equipment finance industry, and other ELFA events.

In addition, Marks is an active member of ELFA’s LegalTalk, an e-mail discussion group where members post questions and exchange commentary on legal topics, sharing his industry expertise, insights and analysis on a wide range of legal issues important for equipment leasing and finance lawyers.

A prolific author, Marks publishes a monthly newsletter and maintains the leaselawyer.com website. He authored chapters in Matthew Bender’s Equipment Leasing and the Practicing Law Institute’s Equipment Leasing – Leveraged Leasing treatises and co-authored Power Tools for Successful Leasing, Technology Leasing: A Lessee Toolkit and Power Tools for Small Ticket Leasing, available from Leasing Power Tools Press. In addition, Marks serves on the editorial review board for the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation’s Journal of Equipment Lease Financing as well as the review board for the LJN Equipment Leasing Newsletter and has contributed to numerous industry publications.

A member of the Alabama State Bar, the Florida Bar and the State Bar of Georgia, Marks was the first lawyer to earn the Certified Lease & Finance Professional (CLFP) designation. He is a director emeritus of the National Association of Equipment Leasing Brokers and in 1999 he received the NAELB Bill Granieri Award for Education in Equipment Leasing.