Baker Donelson has expanded its Equipment Finance Team with the addition of Ken Weinberg, a nationally recognized attorney in the equipment leasing and finance industry.
Mr. Weinberg joins as a shareholder in the Firm's Birmingham office. Joining alongside Mr. Weinberg is attorney Jennifer Howard, further strengthening Baker Donelson's capabilities in commercial equipment leasing and finance, asset-based lending, and energy finance.
These deeply experienced attorneys are significant additions to a practice that serves clients across the equipment finance industry and related sectors, expanding the team's ability to support clients in increasingly sophisticated transactions.
"As one of the preeminent practitioners in the field of equipment finance, Ken has spent decades helping shape the industry through his leadership and service to his clients," said Patton Hahn, managing shareholder of Baker Donelson's Birmingham office. "His arrival, along with Jennifer's, significantly expands the depth of our Equipment Finance Team. Their experience strengthens our ability to provide practical counsel across a broad range of equipment finance and energy-related matters."
Mr. Weinberg focuses his practice exclusively on commercial equipment leasing and finance transactions and is widely recognized within the industry as a leader in his field, providing counsel to some of the largest equipment leasing and finance companies in the United States. His experience spans a broad range of transactions, including various lease structures; equipment finance agreements and traditional loan transactions; progress payment, interim funding, and construction financings; vendor lease programs; assignments and syndications; warehouse and funding lines; refinancings; back-leveraging transactions; lease assignments; sales of interests; and portfolio acquisitions. He also advises lenders, investors, and developers on energy financing transactions involving solar facilities, biomass facilities, landfill-gas-to-energy projects, and natural-gas-fired plants.
Ms. Howard advises clients across the country on asset-based financing transactions, with a focus on equipment finance and energy generation project finance. Her experience includes all phases of structuring and documenting true leases, leases intended as secured financings, and equipment loans involving a variety of equipment types. She also advises clients in connection with construction loans, term loans, and other financings related to energy generation facilities, including anaerobic digesters, landfill-gas-to-energy facilities, solar facilities, and natural-gas-fired plants.
"Ken's practice is highly complementary to the work we are already doing across our financial services transactions practice," said Kevin P. LaTulip Jr., head of Baker Donelson's Financial Services Transactions Group. "He brings substantial experience across the full spectrum of equipment leasing and finance transactions, as well as a strong skill set in developing AI-enabled client service tools, which complements the Firm's focus on innovation and client service delivery. Combined with Jennifer's background, these additions build on a well-established practice and position the team to handle a broader range of sophisticated transactions, enhancing our ability to serve existing and new clients."
Mr. Weinberg, who joins from CM Law, previously practiced with Baker Donelson and has remained actively involved in the equipment leasing and finance industry throughout his career. In addition to representing participants in equipment finance transactions nationwide, he has served as an expert witness in equipment leasing and finance litigation matters across the country and is known for his work developing practical solutions to complex transaction issues.
"I am excited to be returning home to Baker Donelson, where I have spent the majority of my career," said Mr. Weinberg. "The Firm provides a platform that allows Jennifer and me to continue building a dedicated equipment finance team while drawing on the capabilities of a full-service law firm. The breadth of the Firm's practices creates opportunities to help clients with a wider range of business and legal needs and to pursue larger and more complex transactions. Baker Donelson's dedication to innovation will also accelerate our development and deployment of tools and processes that enhance the client experience – something the equipment leasing and finance industry, built on efficiency and practicality, has always valued."
Mr. Weinberg was the recipient of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association's 2023 Edward A. Groobert Award for Legal Excellence, the highest honor awarded by the organization to an attorney, and is recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® for Banking and Finance Law. He previously served both on the Legal Committee of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association and as co-chair of the association's Energy Subcommittee. Mr. Weinberg is the author of "Dispatches from the Trenches," a regular column published in the Monitor since 2002. He also serves on the editorial board of the Equipment Leasing Newsletter published by Law Journal Newsletters and regularly presents on equipment leasing and finance topics nationwide.
Mr. Weinberg and Ms. Howard, who are both licensed to practice in Alabama, are both graduates of the University of Georgia School of Law and Vanderbilt University.