Marc L. Hamroff, Robert S. Cohen and Julia Gavrilov, who are all members of Moritt Hock & Hamroff’s secured finance and equipment leasing practice area, will be participating as moderators or panelists for sessions at the 2021 Equipment Leasing and Finance Association Legal Forum LIVE! on May 4 and 5.

“We’re delighted to be participating once again in an ELFA event,” Hamroff said. “More than a year into this unprecedented pandemic, our MH&H attorneys are eager to share our insight and guidance as we continue to navigate through it.”

Hamroff will be serving both as moderator and a presenter for a panel discussion entitled “What Are the Courts Doing during the Pandemic? A Look at Creditors Rights, Bankruptcy and Workouts during These Challenging Times.” Hamroff’s panel will explore how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed — and is changing — the commercial finance landscape, with a particular focus on the challenges lenders and lessors are facing with a “boots on the ground” approach. The session also will look at how the recent Subchapter V of the Bankruptcy Code impacts small business debtors; provide an overview of new statutes, executive orders and moratoriums arising from the pandemic, with examples of each from prominent states; describe the implications of the enforcement of remedies, including the exercise of UCC Article 9 foreclosure cases; outline and discuss new legal defenses, including force majeure; and provide an overview of the pandemic’s effect on access to courts, especially with regard to jury trials. Hamroff’s session is scheduled for May 4.

Cohen’s session, entitled “California and New York Federal Licensing and Disclosure,” will explore how equipment leasing and finance companies continue to face a barrage of new state and federal laws applicable to various commercial transactions, including the introduction of consumer-style financing disclosures, expansion of state regulatory enforcement authority and new licensing requirements, among others. This session will provide an overview of recent and pending changes being considered in Washington, D.C., California and New York, as well as some noteworthy enforcement activity. Cohen also will discuss the proposed commercial financing disclosure law (CFDL), which is set to take effect Jan. 1, 2022. This New York State CFDL imposes interest rate and other consumer-style disclosure requirements for a variety of commercial financing transactions of $500,000 or less, including loans, equipment finance agreements, sales-based financing and factoring transactions, and is expected to have far-reaching implications for commercial finance. Cohen’s session is scheduled for May 4.

Gavrilov’s presentation, “Does Your Contract Work Across State Lines?,” will explore the implication of state law and jurisdiction related to pandemic legal issues. According to Gavrilov, parties to a contract commonly agree to the application of a certain jurisdiction and/or state’s law without recognizing circumstances where such a governing law provision may be deemed unenforceable by a court. Her session will discuss and analyze the exceptions that can override a choice of law provision or forum selection clause and result in ramifications for which any lender or lessor may never have bargained. Gavrilov’s session is scheduled for May 5.