The Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) awarded Paul Bent, senior managing director at The Alta Group, the Edward A. Groobert Award for Legal Excellence. ELFA Legal Committee chair Molly Simon, senior legal counsel at DLL, presented the award to Bent on May 6 at the ELFA Legal Forum in Scottsdale, Arizona, in recognition of his significant contributions to the association and the equipment finance industry.

Bent is a recognized leader in the equipment finance industry who has been an active member of the ELFA and a contributor to the association’s legal community for more than three decades. He is a past member of the ELFA legal committee, which is a member and staff resource on a wide range of national and international legal issues impacting the equipment finance industry. He also has participated in a number of subcommittees of the legal committee, including Equipment Finance Regulatory and Compliance, Amicus Curiae and Equipment Leasing & Finance Magazine.

In addition, Bent has served as an information resource for ELFA members regarding legal issues impacting equipment finance. He is a frequent speaker at industry events and conferences, including the ELFA’s legal forum and annual convention. He has written dozens of articles for industry trade publications, including ELFA’s Equipment Leasing & Finance Magazine, the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation’s Journal of Equipment Lease Financing as well as Foundation reports.

Prior to his current role with The Alta Group, Bent served as legal counsel for an equipment finance firm specializing in tax benefit transfers, as CEO and general counsel for a boutique corporate advisory firm, and as an expert witness in scores of cases involving equipment leasing and secured financing.

A U.S. Navy veteran, Bent was awarded the American Spirit Honor Medal and served as a satellite navigation specialist in the submarine service, Pacific fleet. He was named Lawyer of the Year by the Long Beach (California) Bar Association and is a past president of the Ball/Hunt/Schooley Chapter of the American Inn of Court. He holds an A.B. degree cum laude in mathematics and computer science from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a J.D. degree from Southwestern University School of Law.