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Steven N. Leitess  Contact
Phone: 410.581.7402
Email:
Education
University of Maryland Law School, Juris Doctor May 1988
Executive Editor of the Maryland Law Forum
Authored the Forum's May, 1988 article "Should the Exclusion Fit the Crime?"
Professional Background |
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Judicial clerkship, the Honorable Arrie W. Davis, now a member of the Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, August 1988 – July 1989. |
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Trial experience as a prosecutor in Baltimore City and in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, 1989-1992. Prosecuted white-collar and violent crimes. |
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Leitess Leitess Friedberg + Fedder, P.C. – founding member of law firm practicing in areas of commercial finance, creditor's rights in bankruptcy, equipment leasing and commercial litigation, 1992-present. Regularly represent some of America’s largest asset based lenders and equipment leasing companies in negotiation, documentation, litigation, collateral realization, loan collection and lease enforcement. Actively engaged in Uniform Commercial Code opinions, bankruptcy, lender liability and class action defense, and appellate practice in both state and federal courts. Expert witness experience in litigation involving bankruptcy issues. |
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Bar Admissions
Maryland (1988) and District of Columbia (1989) bars. Admitted to practice in the federal and local courts of both jurisdictions, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, the Federal Court of Claims and the United States Supreme Court. |
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Bar Association Memberships and Educational Activities |
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Presently serving as a member of the Board of Regents, American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers, Inc. |
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Presently serving as a commissioner for the Maryland Commission on Uniform State Laws and a member of the Uniform Law Conference. |
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Presently serving as co-chair of the Maryland State Bar Association’s Business Law Section Task Force to study proposed 2004 General Assembly omnibus bill implementing Permanent Editorial Board changes to five Articles of the Uniform Commercial Code. |
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Served as the American Bar Association Advisor to the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws Committee drafting a Uniform Certificate of Title Act. |
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Served as a member of Maryland State Bar Association's subcommittee for revised UCC Article 9 in Maryland. |
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Panelist and lecturer on various creditors' rights and bankruptcy issues including maximizing creditors' recoveries in financial fraud cases, the use of technology to enhance client services, revised UCC Article 9 (enforcement and transition). All panels and lectures included original written materials and electronic presentations. Panels, lectures and written materials delivered for the American Bar Association, the Maryland Institute for Continuing Professional Education for Lawyers (MICPEL), American Bankruptcy Institute and Equipment Leasing Association. |
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Briefed and argued in the Fourth Annual American Bar Association-American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers Appellate Argument on the extension into a complex commercial case of the holding of the United States Supreme Court in Associates Commercial Corporation v. Rash (1997). |
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Publications |
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"A New Certificate of Title Act – Securitization of Retail Paper," Equipment Leasing Today, August 2003 (co-author Earl F. Leitess). |
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"Modernizing Certificate of Title Laws: Is it Time for a Uniform Certificate of Title Law?" ABI Journal, December 2002. |
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"Pretrial Issues in Lender Liability Lawsuits," chapter in Lender Liability and Litigation (Matthew Bender, 2000). |
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"Inventory Financing Under Revised Article 9," 73 AMER. BANKR. L.J. 119 (1999) (co-author Earl F. Leitess). |
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"The New UCC Article 9 – Evolution or Revolution?" Maryland Bar Journal, Spring 1999. |
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Contributing editor to the 50 State Compendium of Equipment Leasing Law maintained by the Equipment Leasing Association (Maryland and Washington, DC). |
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Various written materials prepared for lectures and panel presentations on Article 9 and related UCC issues. |
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Reported Decisions
Associates Commercial Corporation v. Matsuki International, Inc., 22 F.Supp. 2d 502 (D. Md., 1998). Successful prosecution of a case in which the United States District Court for the District of Maryland determined that the Maryland statute governing the disposition of certain property violated the constitutional due process rights enjoyed by lenders holding security interests in that property.
Allnutt v. Associates Leasing, Inc. (In re Fred W. Allnutt, Sr.), 220 B.R. 871 (Bankr. D. Md. 1998), aff'd, No. 98-1212 (D. Md. Sep. 25, 1998), aff'd, Nos. 98-2630, 98-2678 (4th Cir. March 9, 1999), cert denied, 120 S.Ct. 286 (1999). Successful defense of $40 million suit attempting to overturn a lawful bankruptcy sale. The bankruptcy court decision contains a lengthy analysis of frivolous litigation and sanctions therefor.
Other Professional Affiliations
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The Association of Commercial Finance Attorneys (member of the Executive Board) |
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American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers (Member of Board of Regents)
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The Equipment Leasing Association (2004 member of the ELA Legal Committee) |
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The American Bankruptcy Institute (member of the UCC Subcommittee) |
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The American Bar Association (member of the Section of Business Law and the Litigation Section) |
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Maryland State Bar Association |
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Maryland Bankruptcy Bar Association |
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