Alicia Bendana

Practice Areas

Alicia M. Bendana focuses her national practice on complex bankruptcy and commercial litigation, representing trustees, debtors, creditors, creditors’ committees, receivers, and liquidators in high-stakes matters involving officer and director liability, professional negligence, fraud, RICO, fraudulent transfers, and business dissolutions.

Career

A Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), Alicia is board certified in business bankruptcy law by both the American Board of Certification and by the Louisiana Board of Legal Specialization. Her experience and insight have made her a trusted lead and co-lead counsel in some of the most challenging bankruptcy-related cases across multiple jurisdictions, including Texas and Delaware.

In addition to her practice, Alicia serves as an adjunct associate professor of Trial Advocacy at Tulane University Law School, where she shares her courtroom knowledge with the next generation of litigators. A respected thought leader, Alicia has authored numerous articles for professional publications and presents at continuing legal education seminars nationwide.

Alicia is very active in professional and civic organizations locally, statewide, and nationally. She is a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute, where she served as co-chair of the Asset Sales Committee (2021-2023) and currently sits on both the Bankruptcy Litigation Committee and Commercial Fraud Committee. She is a board member of the American Board of Certification where she serves on the Marketing Committee. Alicia is also very involved with the International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC), serving as the founding co-chair of IWIRC’s Louisiana Network (2011-2015) and as a director at large on two separate occasions.

Professional Memberships

• American Bankruptcy Institute: Member, Bankruptcy Litigation Committee; Member, Commercial Fraud Committee; Co-Chair, Asset Sales Committee (2021-2023)

• American Bar Association: Co-Chair, Fraud Litigation Subcommittee (2016-2018); Co-Chair, Fiduciary Duty Litigation Subcommittee (2016–2017)

• American Board of Certification: Member, Board of Directors; Member, Marketing Committee

• Federal Bar Association, Member, Bankruptcy Section

• Houston Bar Association, Member, Bankruptcy Section

• International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC) – Louisiana Network: Founding Co-Chair (2011-2015); Former Director at Large

• Judge Jerry A. Brown Louisiana Bankruptcy American Inn of Court, Member

• Louisiana Board of of Legal Specialization, President, Bankruptcy Law Advisory Commission (2020-2021)

• Louisiana State Bar Association: Member, Bankruptcy Law Section; Former Member, House of Delegates; Former Co-Chair, Committee on the Profession

• New Orleans Bar Association: Chair, Bankruptcy Committee (2018–2019, 2024); Chair, Business Litigation Committee (2015–2017); Chair, Women in the Profession Committee (2014–2016)

• Texas Bar Association, Bankruptcy Section

Experience

• Represented the chapter 7 trustee of telecommunications service provider in commercial fraud litigation against one of the 50 largest corporations in the United States.

• Represented the chapter 7 trustee of an online wholesale distributor of food service equipment in breach of fiduciary duty litigation against the debtor’s former managers prior to filing suit.

• Represented the litigation trustee of an oil and gas production company in breach of fiduciary duty litigation against the debtor’s former CEO.

• Represented the litigation trustee and reorganized debtors in an action against the former manager of a renowned New Orleans nightclub for, inter alia, fraud and breaches of fiduciary duty.

• Represented undocumented construction workers in fraud and racketeering litigation against a Fortune 500 company affiliate.

• Represented the chapter 7 trustee of an online wholesale distributor of food service equipment in auditing malpractice litigation.

• Represented the creditors’ committee, and upon conversion, the chapter 7 trustee of a restaurant chain in breach of fiduciary litigation against a debtor’s former managers.

• Represented former shareholders and obtained an extraordinary recovery (400% of actual damages) against the managing shareholder, office manager, and independent external accountant relative to a breach of fiduciary duty, accounting malpractice, fraud, conspiracy and racketeering claims.

• Represented two classes of former employees of two bankrupt casinos in separate bankruptcy proceedings in contested litigation involving WARN Act violation claims.

• Represented petitioning LLC members and liquidators in various state court liquidation proceedings.

• In a case of first impression, obtained a judgment in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals establishing a chapter 7 trustees’ statutory fees as presumptively reasonable.

Personal

• Antenna (Press Street, Inc.), Former Treasurer, Board of Directors

• Homer A. Plessy Community School (Citizens’ Committee for Education, Inc.), Past Member and Former President, Board of Directors

• InspireNOLA Charter Schools, Inc., Past Member and Former President, Board of Directors

• Syracuse University Parents Council, Co-Chair (2020 to 2022)

Education

Awards