In Connecticut we get around this by initiating suit with a pre-judgment remedy...attachment of property...garnishment of bank accounts...what works best is garnishment of the defendant's accounts receivable held by the defendant's clients. It is a temporary judicial  lien on these various properties pending the outcome of litigation. It assures that there is something there to satisfy the judgment if the plaintiff wins.

With respect to bankruptcies the law has been rewritten twice since the last time I ran into this problem, but at that time judicial liens were dischargeable for 90 days after they were created. After 90 days the debt became a secured debt for purposes of the bankruptcy.