Overview
Alicia Bendana represents clients as lead or co-lead counsel in:
■ Officer and director liability litigation
■ Fraud and racketeering litigation
■ Professional liability litigation
■ Shareholder litigation
■ Business litigation
■ Discharge and dischargeability litigation
■ Purchasing assets from bankruptcy estates
Alicia also serves as general counsel to bankruptcy fiduciaries and state court liquidators and receivers.
Alicia is board certified in business bankruptcy law by both the American Board of Certification and by the Louisiana Board of Legal Specialization, and she is also a Certified Fraud Examiner.
Although based in New Orleans, Alicia also works out of the firm’s Houston office as she has a number of cases in various jurisdictions in Texas.
Outside the office:
Professional fun-maker, amateur self-actualizer, treasure hunter of vintage finds, and book club MVP (Most Verbose Participant). Believer in soul, history, and the “if you like it, it’s right for the occasion” fashion choice.
I love entertaining, especially when it involves turning ordinary moments into extraordinary memories. When not honing my hostess skills, I am likely traveling to interesting places with interesting people, including my husband (prefers an itinerary), a wide variety of friends (happy with, or without, an itinerary) and, when they’re not busy living their best lives, my three sons (“what’s an itinerary?”). If you need me, I’ll be wherever books, art, and life’s little oddities collide – probably with a smile on my face and a lot of opinions to share.
- 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 ship and tanker companies as successful “stalking horse” bidders in the contested § 363 sale of a tanker in Chapter 11 proceedings.
- 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 the ex-spouse of a debtor in an action against the debtor for breaches of fiduciary duty, fraud, and the partitioning of community property pursuant to Louisiana law.
- Represented two classes of former employees of two bankrupt casinos in separate bankruptcy proceedings in contested litigation involving WARN Act violation claims.
- Represented the Chapter 7 trustee of a holding company in an action against a third party company and its principal for fraudulent conveyances.
- Represented petitioning LLC members and liquidators in various state court liquidation proceedings.
- Represented a debtor-in-possession in the successful Chapter 11 liquidation of a nursing home and obtained an order designating tax payments to trust fund liability.
- Represented a well-known New Orleans restaurant in opposing – and ultimately negotiating – a settlement that terminated an involuntary bankruptcy proceeding.
- 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.
Professional Affiliations
- American Bankruptcy Institute
- Asset Sales Committee (Co-Chair, 2021–2023)
- Bankruptcy Litigation Committee
- Commercial Fraud Committee
- The American Board of Certification
- Board Member, Marketing Committee (2020-present)
- International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC)
- Director at Large (2019-2021; 2013–2015)– Founding Co-Chair of the Louisiana Network (2011–2015)
- American Bar Association
- Fraud Litigation Subcommittee (Co-Chair, 2016–2018)
- Fiduciary Duty Litigation Subcommittee (Co-Chair, 2016–2017)
- Federal Bar Association
- Bankruptcy Section
- Louisiana State Bar Association
- House of Delegates (2017–2021)
- Committee on the Profession (Co-Chair, 2018–2019)
- Bankruptcy Section
- Louisiana Board of Legal Specialization
- Bankruptcy Law Advisory Commission (President, 2020–2021)
- Judge Jerry A. Brown Louisiana Bankruptcy American Inn of Court
- Texas Bar Association
- Bankruptcy Section
- New Orleans Bar Association
- Bankruptcy Committee (Chair, 2018–2019, 2024)
- Business Litigation Committee (Chair, 2015–2017)
- Women in the Profession Committee (Chair, 2014–2016)
- Houston Bar Association
- Bankruptcy Section
Community Affiliations
- Antenna (Press Street, Inc.)
- Treasurer, Board of Directors (2020–2022)
- antenna.works
- Homer A. Plessy Community School (Citizens’ Committee for Education, Inc.)
- Past Member, Board of Directors (2014–2019; President, 2017-2019)
- plessyschool.org
- InspireNOLA Charter Schools, Inc.
- Past Member, Board of Directors (2012–2014; President, 2012-2013)
- inspirenolacharterschools.org
- Syracuse University Parents Council
- Co-Chair (2020–2022)
- Chambers USA: Bankruptcy and Restructuring (2020-2024)
- Best Lawyers in America: Bankruptcy, Creditor/Debtor Rights, Insolvency, Reorganization and Bankruptcy Litigation (2020-2025)
- Louisiana Super Lawyers: Bankruptcy, Business Litigation, and Creditor Debtor Rights (2016-2025)
- Top 50: Louisiana Super Lawyers (2025)
- Top 50: New Orleans Super Lawyers (2025)
- Top 25: Women Super Lawyers (2023-2025)
- New Orleans Magazine’s Top Women in Law (2025)
- Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Global Bankruptcy & Restructuring Lawyers (2020 –2024)
- New Orleans Magazine’s Top Lawyers (2021-2024)
- Martindale-Hubbell: AV Preeminent Rating in Bankruptcy and Restructuring
