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Arlene Gelman helps lenders, lessors, equipment finance companies, and other creditors resolve disputes over unpaid obligations, breach of contract, and enforcement matters involving loans, leases and commercial agreements.

A member of Vedder’s Complex Commercial Litigation and Bankruptcy & Financial Restructuring Groups, Arlene co-chairs Vedder’s Creditors’ Rights and Collections Group.

Drawing on more than three decades of experience, Arlene represents clients in federal, state and bankruptcy courts, arbitration and out-of-court workouts. She has litigated breach of loan and lease agreements across jurisdictions, negotiates complex workouts and settlements and regularly enforces creditor rights through replevin, detinue, and claim and delivery actions. Additionally, she advises clients throughout bankruptcies to protect their interests and recover assets.

Arlene is well-known in the equipment finance industry and has deep knowledge of the UCC (Uniform Commercial Code), Bankruptcy Code, and related enforcement statutes. A former federal judicial law clerk in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, she possesses insight into court procedures and regularly represents clients in U.S. state, federal district, appellate and bankruptcy courts.

Credentials

Education

  • Boston University School of Law, J.D., 1994
    • Edward F. Hennessey Scholar
  • University of Illinois, B.A., with distinction, 1989

Clerkships

  • Law Clerk, Honorable Joan H. Lefkow, U.S. District Court Judge for the Northern District of Illinois
  • Law Clerk, Honorable Ronald Barliant, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of Illinois
  • Law Clerk, Honorable Eugene Wedoff, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of Illinois
  • Staff attorney, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois

Bar Admissions

  • Illinois, 1994

Court Admissions

  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit, 2007
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit, 1995
  • U.S. District Court, District of Colorado, 2019
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of Illinois, 2016
  • U.S. District Court, Western District of Michigan, 2002
  • U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois, 2002
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, 1994

Affiliations

  • Member, The Illinois State Bar Association

  • Member, Chicago Bar Association

  • Member, American Bankruptcy Institute

  • Member, International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC)

  • Member, The Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA)

Recognition

  • Best Lawyers in America® – Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law (2023-2026)
  • Leading Lawyers – Bankruptcy & Workout: Commercial; Creditor’s Rights/Commercial Collections, Leading Lawyer (2013-2026)
  • Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America – Bankruptcy & Restructuring (2020-2026)
  • Martindale-Hubbell – AV Preeminent®

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