Leonard L. Gumport

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Leonard L. Gumport

Partner

Phone: (213) 452-4900

Email: lgumport@gumportlaw.com

Leonard L. Gumport has more than 30 years of experience as a litigator in business, bankruptcy, and receivership litigation, including internal investigations and litigation involving allegations of financial fraud and public corruption. He is admitted to practice in Alaska, California, District of Columbia and New York.

Mr. Gumport has served as a chapter 11 trustee, chapter 7 trustee, SIPC trustee, bankruptcy examiner and provisional director, in addition to serving as a counsel to public and privately held entities in investigations and litigation. As trustee, he has been involved in more than 1,000 adversary proceedings. He has served as trial counsel in state court and federal court and has argued appellate matters in the California Court of Appeal, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court.

He received his B.A. from Yale University (summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa) and his J.D. from Columbia Law School (Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, 2nd and 3rd years). Following graduation from law school, he clerked for U.S. District Judge Gus J. Solomon (D. Oregon) during 1977-1979. In 1979, Mr. Gumport joined the law firm then known as Beardsley, Hufstedler & Kemble. He practiced at that firm and its successor firms during 1979-1995, where he started as an associate and became a partner. In March 1995, Mr. Gumport co-founded his current firm, which was then known as Gumport, Reitman & Montgomery.

Mr. Gumport served as the bankruptcy examiner of Newedge, a California-based company that owned Edgington Oil Company, and was an affiliate of international arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi. After submitting an examiner’s report on the withdrawal of $89 million from Edgington by its affiliates, Mr. Gumport served as special counsel to the bankruptcy trustee of Triad America in asset freeze litigation against a Liechstenstein affiliate of Mr. Khashoggi. The asset freeze litigation resulted in the attachment of a $20 million asset of the Liechtenstein entity.

Mr. Gumport and his firm were bankruptcy counsel to the trustee of the consolidated bankruptcy estates of Bruce P. McNall and various of his affiliates. McNall pleaded guilty to defrauding multiple banks of more than $100 million. McNall’s holdings including ownership interests in the L.A. Kings hockey franchise, motion picture production companies (that he co-managed with David Begelman), and sports memorabilia (including a 1910 Honus Wager baseball card that McNall co-owned with Wayne Gretzky).

Mr. Gumport and his firm were co-lead counsel (with County Counsel) for San Bernardino County in its civil litigation against former public officials and contractors involved in bribery schemes to influence more than $100 million in public contracts. The litigation followed the resignation and guilty plea of James Hlawek, the County’s former top appointed official. The opinion of the Court of Appeal, affirming the judgment in civil case, is entitled County of San Bernardino v. Walsh, 158 Cal.App.4th 533 (2008). The opinion addresses California Government Code section 1090, which provides a civil forfeiture remedy when a public official has a prohibited financial interest in a public contract.

Mr. Gumport authored “The Bankruptcy Examiner,” 20 Cal. Bankr. J. 71 (1992), which has been cited in judicial decisions, including In re Big Rivers Electric Corp., 355 F.3d 415 (6th Cir. 2004). In 2005, Mr. Gumport and his co-counsel from the San Bernardino case made a presentation on Government Code section 1090 in a program entitled “Public Corruption: Maximizing Remedies” at the annual meeting conference of the County Counsels’ Association of California.

Mr. Gumport is a member of the panel of mediators of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California, and the Los Angeles Superior Court.

He has served as a Lawyer Representative to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference and as Chair of the Federal Courts Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Associated. He has also served as an editor of the California Bankruptcy Journal. For his exceptional legal representation in the field of debtor/creditor rights, he has been recognized for inclusion in Super Lawyer magazine for the years 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and again in 2012.

Education

• J.D., Columbia University, 1977
  • Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar
• B.A., Yale University, 1972
  • summa cum laude
  • Phi Beta Kappa

Admissions

• New York, 1978
• California, 1979
• District of Columbia, 1980
• U.S. Supreme Court, 1980
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 1980
• U.S. District Court for the Central, Northern, Southern, and Eastern Districts of California, 1980
• Alaska 2008

Professional Memberships and Activities

• American Bankruptcy Institute
• Mediator, United States Bankruptcy Court, Central District of California
• Member, Los Angeles County Bar Association
• Los Angeles Bankruptcy Forum
• Los Angeles Receivers Forum

Published Articles

• Author, "The Bankruptcy Examiner," 20 Cal. Bankr. J. 71 (1992).

Reported Cases

• In re Intermagnetics America, Inc., 926 F.2d 912, (9th Cir. (Cal.), Feb 26, 1991) (NO. 90-55160).
• In re Thrifty Oil Co., 205 B.R. 1009 (Bkrptcy. S. D. Cal., Feb 20, 1997).
• County of San Bernardino v. Walsh, 158 Cal. App. 4th 533 (2008).

Honors

• "AV" rated by Martindale-Hubbell
• Southern California Super Lawyer, Bankruptcy and Creditor/Debtor Rights, 2007 - 2010
• Lawyer Representative,Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference, 1998-2000
• Law Clerk to U.S. District Judge Gus J. Solomon, 1977-1979