Following the Money: Recovering Assets a Debtor Transferred Away

Gary M. Kaplan, Partner | Farella Braun + Martel LLP

Gary M. Kaplan chairs Farella Braun + Martel’s Restructuring, Insolvency and Creditors Rights practice group in San Francisco. Over decades of practice he has represented creditors, debtors, creditors’ committees, trustees, and receivers across bankruptcy and non-bankruptcy matters, with particular depth in insolvency-related litigation — including preference and fraudulent transfer claims — as well as debt collection, judgment enforcement, and provisional remedies.

• Education & Credentials

Mr. Kaplan earned his J.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law (1991) and a B.S., magna cum laude, from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania (1986). He is admitted to the bars of California and the District of Columbia, and to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. He is Board Certified in Business Bankruptcy Law by the American Board of Certification and is a Certified Legal Specialist in Bankruptcy Law by the State Bar of California.

• Recognition & Leadership

He has been named to The Best Lawyers in America for Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law, Corporate Law, and Litigation–Bankruptcy (2025–2026), and to Northern California Super Lawyers in bankruptcy (2004–2006, 2009–2026). He is “Recommended” in the San Francisco Bay Area by PLC’s The Restructuring and Insolvency Handbook, was Corporate LiveWire’s 2014 Lawyer of the Year for Bankruptcy & Restructuring – San Francisco, and received the Corporate LiveWire Global Award for Insolvency Law Firm of the Year in 2017. He has received the Bar Association of San Francisco’s “Outstanding Volunteer in Public Service” award ten times and holds a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Senate for his consumer bankruptcy work.

• Professional Involvement

Mr. Kaplan is a member of the Commercial Transactions Committee and the Insolvency Law Committee of the California Lawyers Association and of the American Bankruptcy Institute. He is a past president of the Board of Directors of the Bay Area Bankruptcy Forum, past chair of the California State Bar’s Bankruptcy Law Advisory Commission (2013–2014), a past member of the State Bar’s Insolvency Committee and past chair of its Legislative Subcommittee, past chair of the Bankruptcy Section of the San Francisco Bar’s Barristers Club, and a past member of the Bench-Bar Liaison Committee of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California.

• Experience

His practice spans out-of-court and Chapter 11 restructurings, pre- and post-bankruptcy strategy, and financing transactions for lenders and borrowers, including debtor-in-possession financing and lease and guaranty matters. He represents secured and unsecured creditors, creditors’ committees, landlords, and equity holders in recovery efforts in and outside of bankruptcy, has protected landlords’ rights in retailer
bankruptcy cases nationwide, and has handled the purchase and sale of distressed businesses and assets in industries including wineries, hospitality, and alternative energy. His litigation experience runs from trial through appeal, including before the U.S. Supreme Court, and includes the defense of guarantors, owners, and directors and officers.

Jonathan Gopman, Partner | Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP

Jonathan Gopman is a partner in Nelson Mullins’ Naples, Florida office. His practice centers on wealth accumulation and preservation planning for entrepreneurs and high-net-worth families, built around four coordinated structures: estate planning, tax deferral, tax-favored investment, and asset protection. His personal practice emphasizes international wealth preservation, including foreign trust structures and domestic and international estate planning.

• Education & Credentials

Mr. Gopman earned his LL.M. in Estate Planning from the University of Miami School of Law (1991), his J.D. from Florida State University College of Law (1990), and his B.A. in Political Science from the University of South Florida (1986). He is admitted in Florida and North Carolina, and before the U.S. Tax Court and the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.

• Recognition & Leadership

He has been named to The Best Lawyers in America for Trusts and Estates (2010–2026), Florida Super Lawyers for Estate & Probate (2010–2024), and Florida Trend Legal Elite (2010–present), and to Worth Magazine’s Top 100 Estate Planning Attorneys (2005, 2007). He is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell and received the Guardian of Justice Pro Bono Award from Community Legal Services of Mid-Florida in 2018. He previously chaired the Trusts & Estates Practice Group in the Naples office of a national law firm (2011–2021), where he also served as Naples office managing partner.

• Professional Involvement

Mr. Gopman is a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel and of the American Bar Foundation. Within the American Bar Association’s Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Section, he served as co-chair of Asset Protection Planning (2015–2017) and previously as its vice chair. He is an adjunct professor in taxation at Ave Maria School of Law, a commentator on asset protection planning matters for Leimberg Information Services (LISI), and a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP). He has been interviewed and quoted in publications including the New York Times, Bloomberg Magazine, and Forbes Magazine.

• Experience

Mr. Gopman originated the concept of the statutory tenancy by the entireties trust (the “STET,” a term he coined), enacted in § 3574(f) of Title 12, Chapter 35 of the Delaware Statutes, effective August 1, 2010, and was the primary draftsperson of the parallel STET statute passed by the Nevis Island Assembly on May 27, 2015. Between 2011 and 2015 he rewrote significant portions of the Nevis International Exempt Trust
Ordinance — the only U.S. attorney selected by the government of Nevis for the project — and in 2013 assisted in revising the charging order statute in the Nevis Limited Liability Company Ordinance. In 2015 the Minister of Finance of Nevis appointed him to the Nevis International Exempt Trust Ordinance Advisory Committee. His articles, commentaries, and presentations have served as the impetus for changes to the trust laws of several states.

SESSION 1 – Using Bankruptcy as a Creditor’s Weapon to Recover Transferred Assets | 1:00pm – 2:00pm

This session teaches creditors’ counsel how to use the bankruptcy process offensively to recover assets a debtor has transferred away. Attorneys will learn how to force debtors into bankruptcy through involuntary petitions, leverage Rule 2004 examinations to trace hidden assets, pursue avoidance actions under §§ 544 and 548, and protect discharge objection rights under §§ 523 and 727. Attendees leave with a tactical framework for deploying each tool in sequence, from pre-filing investigation through plan confirmation.

BREAK | 2:00pm – 2:10pm

SESSION 2 – Unwinding Transfers to Spouses, Trusts, and Family LLCs | 2:10pm – 3:10pm

This session equips creditors’ attorneys with the statutory and tactical framework for attacking fraudulent transfers made to spouses, domestic asset protection trusts, and family LLCs under the Uniform Voidable Transactions Act. Attendees will learn how to deploy badges of fraud, the UVTA’s insolvency presumption, and emerging reverse veil-piercing doctrine to unwind insider transfers. By the end of the session, attorneys will be able to identify common structural deficiencies in debtor-created entities, select the correct claim (actual vs. constructive fraud), and avoid the pleading and limitations mistakes that sink otherwise strong cases.