Litigating Director and Officer Claims in Bankruptcy

Leo Oppenheimer is an associate in the Dallas office of Reid Collins & Tsai LLP.

Prior to attending law school and joining the firm, he was an investment banking analyst at a private-equity firm, where he gained experience in a range of industries, including transportation and logistics, oil and gas, insurance, and banking.

Mr. Oppenheimer co-authored ABI’s Quick Evidence Handbook, Second Edition (April 2018). He received his B.A. with honors in evolutionary biology from Columbia College in 2010, and his J.D. with honors from Columbia Law School in May 2016, where he served as managing editor of the Columbia Journal of Environmental Law and participated extensively in the Columbia Environmental Litigation Clinic.

Vincent E. Lazar co-chairs Jenner & Block’s Bankruptcy Litigation Practice in Chicago and has advised debtors, committees and trustees in high-profile restructuring matters, as well as represened litigants in bankruptcy-related lawsuits. He also is a member of the firm’s Markets and Trading Practice and regularly advises clearing organizations, brokers and other market participants on insolvency matters.

Mr. Lazar is a contributing author to Colliers on Bankruptcy and is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy. He has played a leading role in a number of financial services-sector insolvency proceedings and is considered an expert in commodity broker liquidation cases.

Mr. Lazar represents the trustee of Sentinel Management Group, a $1 billion fraud case involving the misuse of segregated commodity broker customer assets; CME Group in the MF Global case, including its management of the unprecedented transfer of undermargined positions to other commodity brokers; the examiner in the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy case; the National Futures Association in connection with Peregrine Financial Group’s bankruptcy case; and trustees in commodity broker bankruptcy cases such as Stotler & Company and Refco, LLC, where he acted as the trustee’s special counsel in the first-ever successful bankruptcy sale of a commodity broker business. A frequent speaker on insolvency issues affecting the derivatives and securities industries, he is co-chair of the ABA subcommittee drafting proposed changes to the CFTC’s Part 190 rules, and contributes to industry symposiums and workshops addressing resolution scenarios for clearing organizations, commodity brokers and broker-dealers during financial crises.

Mr. Lazar received his B.A./B.S. from Northwest University in 1987 and his J.D. magna cum laude from the University of Illinois College of Law in 1990, where he was a member of the Order of the Coif.

Alicia M. Bendana, CFE is a shareholder with Lugenbuhl, Wheaton, Peck, Rankin & Hubbard in New Orleans, where she practices business bankruptcy law and commercial litigation with an emphasis on prosecuting and defending complex and multi-layered litigation claims on behalf of trustees, debtors, creditors, creditors’ committees, and other interested parties in chapter 7 and 11 bankruptcy proceedings. She represents clients as lead or co-lead counsel in the prosecution of officer and director liability litigation, legal and accounting malpractice liability litigation, fraud and RICO litigation, fraudulent-transfer/preference-avoidance litigation, contract disputes, insurance disputes, the partitioning of marital property in bankruptcy court, the excepting of debts from discharge, the opposing of plans of reorganization and the proposing of competing plans, and the purchase of assets from bankruptcy estates.

Ms. Bendana is Board Certified in Business Bankruptcy Law by both the American Board of Certification and the Louisiana Board of Legal Specialization. She is rated AV-Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell and is listed in Chambers and Partners USA in the areas of bankruptcy and restructuring. Additionally, she is recognized in The Best Lawyers in America for her work in bankruptcy, creditor/debtor rights, insolvency and reorganization law, and bankruptcy litigation, and she is listed among Lawdragon’s 500 Leading U.S. Bankruptcy and Restructuring Lawyers. She also is listed in Super Lawyers in the areas of business bankruptcy, business litigation and debtor/creditor rights and in New Orleans Magazine as one of the “Top Lawyers” in the city.

Ms. Bendana has authored numerous articles for professional publications, is a frequent lecturer at professional programs, and is currently an adjunct associate professor of trial advocacy at Tulane University School of Law. She received her B.A. in 1986 from Hollins College and her J.D. in 1992 from Tulane University Law School.

Shane G. Ramsey is a partner in the Nashville, Tenn., office of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLP, where he focuses his practice on financial restructuring, bankruptcy and corporate trust matters. He regularly represents committees of unsecured creditors, indenture trustees, secured creditors, unsecured creditors, bondholders, noteholders, liquidation trustees, plan administrators, disbursing agents and other entities in bankruptcy reorganizations, liquidation proceedings and bankruptcy-related litigation.

Mr. Ramsey also has experience handling complex civil litigation matters in both state and federal courts and in alternative dispute resolution settings, including arbitration and mediation. His business litigation experience includes contract disputes, business torts, breach of fiduciary duties, officer and director liabilities, and other general litigation matters.

Mr. Ramsey is admitted to practice in Tennessee, Florida and Georgia, and before the U.S. District Courts for the Middle, Northern and Southern Districts of Florida, the Northern and Middle Districts of Georgia and the Eastern District of Michigan, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

Mr. Ramsey received his B.A. magna cum laude in 2003 from the University of Tampa and his J.D. with high honors in 2006 from Florida State University College of Law, where he was a member of the Order of the Coif and a senior articles editor of the Florida State University Law Review.