Judgment Collection Cross-Fire: See What Happens When Aggressive Collection Meets Creative Asset Protection

Jon Alper, Founding Partner | Alper Law

Jon Alper is the founding partner of Alper Law and has concentrated on Florida asset protection law since 1991, designing both domestic and offshore protective structures for individuals and closely held businesses. His planning sat at the center of BankFirst v. UBS Paine Webber, Inc., the foundational Florida decision on attorney-assisted asset protection planning. His practice applies Florida’s constitutional and statutory exemptions to strengthen client negotiating positions and reduce exposure to creditor claims.

• Education & Credentials

Jon earned an M.A. from Harvard University, a J.D. from the University of Florida College of Law, and a B.A. from Northwestern University. He was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1976.

• Recognition & Leadership

Jon’s commentary on Florida homestead law, creditor rights, and bankruptcy has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Bloomberg, The Washington Post, Forbes, The Financial Times, USA Today, Kiplinger’s, and on Dateline NBC, including New York Times coverage of Florida homestead law in a former governor’s tax residency dispute and Wall Street Journal coverage of bankruptcy mediation for student loan debt.

• Professional Involvement

Jon has presented Florida Bar seminars on asset protection and fraudulent transfer law, including Where Does Florida Law Stand on Fraudulent Transfers? (2003), Wealth Protection Ethics & Liability: The Bar, the Client, and Third Parties (2005), Asset Protection When the Wolf Is at Your Door (2011), and a case law update on Seargent and Barber (2015). He authored Asset Protection for Health Care Professionals in the Florida Bar Health Law Handbook (2007) and asset protection articles in the Florida Bar Journal (2004), and his 2026 national CLE webinars for the Federal Bar Association and myLawCLE include Guide to Foreign Asset Protection Trusts and Defending Personal Guarantors in the 2026 CRE Distress Wave.

• Experience

Jon has practiced Florida asset protection law since 1991, building domestic and offshore structures for individuals and closely held businesses and applying Florida’s constitutional and statutory exemptions against creditor claims. He is engaged in no business other than the practice of law and sells no investments, insurance, or packaged asset protection programs.

Michael A. Nardella, Managing Shareholder | Nardella & Nardella, PLLC

Michael Nardella practices bankruptcy and commercial litigation for business and individual clients. His Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 work spans representation of debtors, creditors, and trustees, and he has handled numerous complex lawsuits in state and federal court. An Orlando native and a third generation lawyer, he serves as Managing Shareholder of the firm.

• Education & Credentials

Michael earned his Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from the University of Florida College of Law, where he received book awards in Advanced Problems in Bankruptcy, Estates and Trusts, Income Taxation, and Medical Technology and the Law, and he holds a B.A. in Classical Studies from the University of Florida. He is admitted to The Florida Bar, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Middle, Southern, and Northern Districts of Florida.

• Recognition & Leadership

Chambers USA ranked Michael in Band 5 for Bankruptcy/Restructuring in 2022-23, following earlier Chambers recognition as Up and Coming (2020-2021) and Associate to Watch (2014-2015). He was named to Florida Super Lawyers in 2023 after ten years as a Rising Star (2013-2022), and Florida Trend recognized him among the Florida Legal Elite in 2022 and its Legal Elite Up and Comers from 2018 to 2021.

• Professional Involvement

Michael is a Past President of the Central Florida Bankruptcy Law Association and serves on The Florida Bar Bankruptcy and UCC Committee and in the Business Law Section of The Florida Bar. His publications include 341 Transcripts: The Hearsay Rule and Limits on Their Use as Substantive Evidence (American Bankruptcy Institute Journal, 2013), Bankruptcy Poison Pills – New Attempts to Avoid Absolute Priority (The Banking Law Journal, 2014), and Non-Judicial Foreclosure of Aircraft Collateral: Unique Challenges for Lenders (Pratt’s Journal of Bankruptcy Law, 2011).

• Experience

Michael’s reported decisions run through the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, Florida’s federal district and bankruptcy courts, and Florida’s appellate courts. Representative matters include Yerian v. Webber (In re Yerian), 927 F.3d 1223 (11th Cir. 2019), BMO Harris Bank, N.A. v. Richert (In re Richert), 2021 Bankr. LEXIS 1936 (Bankr. M.D. Fla. 2021), Regions Bank v. Allen, 33 So. 3d 72 (Fla. 5th DCA 2010), Chambers v. Delta P’ship LLC (In re J.E.L. Site Dev.), 642 B.R. 471 (Bankr. M.D. Fla. 2022), and United States SEC v. Quest Energy Mgmt. Grp., 768 F.3d 1106 (11th Cir. 2014).

SESSION 1 – Watch a skilled creditors’ attorney and an experienced asset protection attorney in a headto-
head debate | 12:00pm – 12:30pm

A skilled creditors’ attorney and an experienced asset protection attorney square off in a live head-to-head debate, testing collection strategy against protective planning and showing what works and does not work in real-world judgment collection.

SESSION 2 – Learn debt collection techniques that will get your creditor client paid quickly | 12:30pm – 1:00pm

This session covers advanced collection techniques that compel payment and get creditor clients paid quickly, including practical advice on penetrating asset protection devices and reversing a debtor’s fraudulent conveyances.

BREAK | 1:00pm – 1:10pm

SESSION 3 – See asset protection tools that drive creditors insane | 1:10pm – 1:40pm

This session teaches advanced domestic and offshore asset protection tools that drive substantially discounted judgment settlements, along with practical advice on defending fraudulent transfer claims when a judgment creditor attacks the plan.

SESSION 4 – Learn how bankruptcy defeats offshore asset protection, and more | 1:40pm – 2:10pm

This session explains how bankruptcy defeats offshore asset protection and explores the practical effects of bankruptcy on both the creditor and the debtor side of a judgment collection fight.