The Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) has awarded Stewart G. Abramson, Senior Managing Counsel at Wells Fargo Equipment Finance, and Dominic A. Liberatore, Deputy General Counsel at DLL, the Edward A. Groobert Award for Legal Excellence.

ELFA Legal Committee Chair Dustin Lee, VP, Assistant General Counsel at Fifth Third Bank, presented the award to Abramson and Liberatore on May 7 at the ELFA Legal Forum in Washington, D.C., in recognition of their significant contributions to the association and the equipment finance industry.

Stewart G. Abramson
Abramson has been an active member of ELFA for more than 22 years and a tireless contributor to the association’s legal community. He is a past Chair 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. In addition to his service on the committee from 2007-2010, Abramson has participated in several subcommittees of the Legal Committee, including Amicus Curiae, State Legislative & Regulatory, E-Commerce, Equipment Leasing & Finance Magazine and Capital Markets, as well as working groups on Automatic Renewal and the Uniform Commercial Code.

Abramson has served as an information resource for ELFA members regarding legal issues impacting the equipment finance industry. He has made many presentations and participated on numerous panels at the ELFA Legal Forum and other ELFA events on topics including syndications and capital markets; letters of credit, guaranties and securities account collateral; confidentiality agreements and intercreditor agreements; regulatory compliance issues for leasing & finance companies; and confidentiality agreements. He has also contributed articles on legal matters to the association’s Equipment Leasing & Finance Magazine. In addition, he has provided input to ELFA's state advocacy department on issues affecting the equipment leasing and finance industry at the state level.

In addition, Abramson 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.

Before serving in his current position as Senior Managing Counsel in the Wells Fargo Law Department, Abramson served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Charter Financial, Inc. from 1988 until Charter’s acquisition by Wells Fargo in 2000. Previously he was General Counsel of North American Corporation prior to joining Charter. Abramson holds a B.S from Union College (NY) and a J.D. from Boston University School of Law. He is a recipient of the President’s Award from Wells Fargo Equipment Finance.

Liberatore has been an active member of ELFA and an advocate for the equipment finance industry for more than 20 years. He is a past Chair of the ELFA Legal Committee and has also participated in a number of subcommittees of the Legal Committee, including E-Commerce, Equipment Leasing & Finance Magazine, Legal Resources, Capital Markets and Equipment Finance Regulatory and Compliance. He is the current Legal Subcommittee Coordinator.

Liberatore is a leading authority on e-leasing and has been a major contributor to ELFA’s advocacy and outreach efforts on this issue. He has spoken on this topic numerous times at the ELFA Legal Forum and the ELFA Annual Convention and has contributed articles on e-leasing to ELFA’s Equipment Leasing and Finance Magazine. Liberatore has also contributed to the work of the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation, serving on the E-Signatures Study Subcommittee and the Editorial Review Board for the Journal of Equipment Lease Financing.

Liberatore also has contributed to ELFA’s advocacy efforts, preparing materials for and attending meetings with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Section 1071 of Dodd-Frank.

Dominic A. Liberatore
In addition to his current position as Deputy General Counsel for DLL, Liberatore has served in a variety of senior in-house legal positions with DLL, IOS Capital, Inc. (the captive finance subsidiary of IKON Office Solutions, Inc.), Copelco Financial Services Group, Inc. and the FDIC.  Prior to going in-house, Liberatore was an associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York City and Wolf Block in Philadelphia. He holds a J.D. from Vanderbilt University and a B.A. from the University of Buffalo. He is the current Chair of the Subcommittee on Leasing of the Uniform Commercial Code Committee of the ABA Business Law Section.  

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.