Mr. Jonathan E. Gopman

Jonathan E. Gopman is a partner with Akerman LLP in Naples, Fla., and chairs the firm's Trusts & Estates Practice group. His practice focuses on sophisticated wealth-accumulation and preservation planning strategies for entrepreneurs, and he assists entrepreneurs with their personal and business plan- ning needs at all phases of the wealth-accumulation and preservation cycle. Mr. Gopman has substantial experience in assisting high-net-worth families with international and domestic estate planning, imple- menting foreign trust structures, business planning and general tax planning. He is a member of the American Bar Association's Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law and served as vice-chair of its Asset Protection Planning Committee for the 2014-15 bar year. Mr. Gopman is the originator of the idea for the statutory tenancy by the entireties trust (commonly referred to as a "STET," a termed he coined) that is set forth in ¤ 3574(f) of Title 12 of Chapter 35 of the Delaware Statutes. This statute was enacted into law in Delaware in July of 2010 and became effective on Aug. 1, 2010. In 2011 and 2012, Mr. Gopman assisted the government of Nevis in revising its trust laws (including the Nevis Rule Against Perpetuities) set forth in the Nevis International Exempt Trust Ordinance by rewriting almost the entire ordinance. He was the only attorney in the U.S. selected by the government of Nevis to work and consult on this project. In March 2015, Mr. Gopman become a Fellow of the American Bar Founda- tion. He is an adjunct professor in taxation at Ave Maria Law School in Naples. Mr. Gopman is a com- mentator on asset-protection planning matters for Leimberg Information Services, Inc. (LISI), a member of the legal advisory board of Commonwealth Trust Company in Wilmington, Del., and a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP). He is AV-rated by Martindale Hubbell and was listed in The Best Lawyers in America in the specialty of trusts and estates from 2009-17. In addition, he has been named a Florida Super Lawyer each year since 2010 and was included in the Florida Trend Legal Elite for 2011 and 2014. Mr. Gopman received his B.A. in political science from the University of South Florida in 1986, his J.D. from Florida State University College of Law in 1990, and his LL.M. from the University of Miami School of Law in 1991.