The Equipment Leasing and Finance Association awarded Andrew K. Alper, vice president and shareholder with Frandzel Robins Bloom & Csato, and Marjorie Krumholz, partner with Thompson Coburn, the Edward A. Groobert Award for Legal Excellence.

ELFA Legal Committee Chair Mirna Cardona, senior counsel at Wells Fargo Equipment Finance, presented the award to Alper and Krumholz on April 29 at the ELFA Legal Forum in San Diego, in recognition of their significant contributions to the association and the equipment finance industry.

Alper has been representing banks, equipment lessors, funding sources and other financial institutions since 1979, and is recognized as an expert within ELFA and the equipment finance industry. He has been an active member of ELFA since the mid-1980s. He recently completed his second term on the association’s Legal Committee, which serves as a member and staff resource on a wide range of national and international legal issues impacting the equipment finance industry. He has also served on ELFA Legal Subcommittees for automatic renewal legislation, amicus curiae briefs and California financing law.

Alper has contributed to the ELFA’s state government relations program, providing legal expertise on behalf of the industry to inform state officials of the association’s position on various legislative matters of concern to ELFA members. Most recently, he has advised ELFA and the industry on various California licensing issues and contributed to the association’s working group regarding newly enacted California loan disclosure requirements.

Alper has also contributed articles to Monitor magazine.

Krumholz is managing partner of Thompson Coburn’s Washington, D.C. office and co-chair of the firm’s Federal Practice Group. Her practice spans more than 30 years representing borrowers, lenders, lessors and lessees in structuring, negotiating and closing financing transactions, including leases, leveraged leases and cross-border transactions. Nationally recognized for her equipment finance experience, particularly in the maritime industry, Krumholz is widely viewed as a thought leader and subject matter expert within ELFA and the equipment finance industry.

Krumholz has been an active member of ELFA for 20 years. She is a former member of the ELFA Legal Committee and currently serves as co-chair of the ELFA Air, Rail and Marine Legal Subcommittee. Through her leadership, the entire ELFA membership benefits from her expertise in maritime equipment finance law. Krumholz is also a regular contributor to ELFA’s federal government relations program as an active participant in the association’s annual Capitol Connections event, which brings members to Washington, D.C. to advocate on behalf of the industry.

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.