Mrs. Alicia M Bendana
Alicia 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. Alicia is board certified in business bankruptcy law by both the American Board of Certification and by the Louisiana Board of Legal Specialization. She is also a Certified Fraud Examiner. Alicia holds an “AV” Preeminent Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell, the highest possible rating for legal ability and ethical standards. She has a distinguished ranking in Chambers and Partners, USA in the areas of bankruptcy and restructuring. Additionally, Alicia is recognized in The Best Lawyers in America for her work in bankruptcy, creditor-debtor rights, insolvency and reorganization law, and bankruptcy litigation, and is listed among Lawdragon’s 500 Leading U.S. Bankruptcy and Restructuring Lawyers. She is also recognized 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. Alicia 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.

Ms. Hilary B Bonial
Hilary B. Bonial is managing director of Bonial and Associates in Dallas, TX. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree, with honors, from Loyola University in New Orleans in 1993, and her law degree from Louisiana State University Law Center in 1996.

Ms. Greta M Brouphy
Greta M. Brouphy works primarily in the bankruptcy practice group of the firm and is an appointed chapter 11 subchapter v trustee by the United States, Region 5 Districts of Louisiana and Mississippi and a Panel 7 Trustee. Specifically, Ms. Brouphy specializes in negotiating unsecured creditors, secured creditors and debtors through chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. Ms. Brouphy has experience in representing a broad range of debtors including large, complex companies and small companies in bankruptcy. Her experience includes representation of debtors, liquidating trustees, bondholders, unsecured creditors’ committees and plan agents in commercial bankruptcy and workout business cases in chapter 11 and chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings, as well as representing secured lenders in chapter 13 and chapter 7 proceedings. Ms. Brouphy also represents individual debtors in chapter 11 proceedings. Clients have included vessels builders, oil and gas companies, grocery stores, apartment complexes, property developers, hotels, and distributors. In addition to representing clients in corporate bankruptcy proceedings, Ms. Brouphy also assisted in the representation of an unsecured creditors committee in a chapter 9 (distressed municipality) bankruptcy proceeding through approval of a debt adjustment plan, and representation of the chapter 9 plan’s trustee.

Professor Beatrice Summer Chandler
Professor Chandler joined the Law Center faculty in 2021. Prior to joining the Law Center faculty, she served as a visiting assistant professor at Southern University Law Center. She also served as an assistant professor at Concordia University School of Law. Prior to joining Concordia University School of Law, she was as a visiting assistant professor at the Georgia State University College of Law. She brings a wealth of practice experience to her teaching. Prior to joining the academy, Professor Chandler practiced for fifteen years in large national and international law firms, focusing her practice on business bankruptcy, commercial real estate related litigation and transactions, and other business transactions and disputes.

Professor Chandler’s research interests are in the areas of bankruptcy and legal ethics. She teaches business and commercial law courses. Professor Chandler is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School. She obtained her undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina – Asheville.

Judge Michael A Crawford
Michael A. Crawford was sworn in as Chief Bankruptcy Judge of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Louisiana on October 3, 2022. Judge Crawford was previously a member of Taylor Porter law firm in Baton Rouge for over 22 years serving as the chair of its banking, real estate and bankruptcy practice group for several years. He has lectured extensively on bankruptcy-related topics and completed the St. John’s University/American Bankruptcy Institute bankruptcy mediation course in 2014. Judge Crawford received his undergraduate degree in business/finance in 1984 from Louisiana State University. Later, while working full time in the family business in Ruston, he earned his MBA from Louisiana Tech University in 1988. He attended the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at LSU and earned his Juris Doctorate in 1993. Following graduation, he served a one year judicial clerkship with the Honorable Gerald H. Schiff (Ret.), United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Louisiana. Judge Crawford grew up in Winnfield, Louisiana. He currently resides in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He and his wife have two children.

Judge Douglas D. Dodd
DOUGLAS D. DODD is the United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Middle District of Louisiana. He graduated from Stanford Law School in 1982, after receiving his
undergraduate degree magna cum laude with interdisciplinary honors in 1977 from Tulane University, where he was elected to membership in Phi Beta Kappa. Judge Dodd practiced law in New Orleans for nearly 20 years before his appointment to the bench in May 2002. He has taught advanced bankruptcy law at Tulane Law School and currently serves as an adjunct professor of law at the LSU Law Center, teaching a seminar in bankruptcy reorganization.

Mr. Bradley L. Drell
BRADLEY L. DRELL is a director and shareholder of the law firm of Gold, Weems, Bruser, Sues & Rundell, A PLC, in Alexandria, LA, and serves as chair of the firm's Bankruptcy and Creditors' Rights section. His practice focuses on representing Debtors in Possession and other parties in interest in Chapter 11 and Chapter 12 cases, commercial litigation, construction law, and in handling non-routine legal matters in state and federal courts. In addition to his Louisiana federal and state bar admissions, he is also admitted to practice in the U.S. District Courts of the Southern, Eastern, and Northern Districts of Texas, and the Eastern and Western Districts of Arkansas, the United States Court of Federal Claims, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second, Fourth, Fifth, Tenth, Eleventh, and Federal Circuits, and the Supreme Court of the United States. For ten years he was an adjunct lecturer of business law at Louisiana College, Pineville, LA, and has previously been a speaker on bankruptcy, ethics, and professionalism for continuing legal education presentations. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of the South, Sewanee, TN, and graduated from LSU Law Center in 1996. He clerked for the Honorable Henley A. Hunter, Judge, United States Bankruptcy Court, Western District of Louisiana, from 1996 to 1997. He is past President of the Crossroads American Inn of Court and the Alexandria Bar Association. He is board certified in Business Bankruptcy Law by the American Board of Certification and the Louisiana State Bar Association, and is past chair of the Bankruptcy Law Advisory Commission of the Louisiana Board of Legal Specialization. He is listed in Best Lawyers and Super Lawyers, and has received national awards for his work in Chapter 11 from the Turnaround Management Association, the Global M&A Network, and M&A Advisor. Brad is a Certified Bourbon Steward of the Stave & Thief Society of Kentucky and writes about whiskey at whiskeyjar.blog.

Judge Meredith S. Grabill
The Honorable Meredith S. Grabill currently serves in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Prior to taking the bench in September 2019, she practiced primarily in the areas of bankruptcy, commercial, and oil-and-gas litigation in New York and Louisiana. In her practice, she served on bankruptcy teams representing publicly traded, closely held, and individual chapter 11 debtors; official unsecured creditors’ committees; and corporate creditors. Outside of bankruptcy court, she has represented large and multinational corporations in antitrust proceedings, labor and contract disputes, and insurance and reinsurance disputes.
Judge Grabill served as a judicial clerk to The Honorable Edith Brown Clement in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, The Honorable Martin L.C. Feldman in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, and The Honorable Martin Glenn in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. She earned her J.D. from Tulane Law School, where she served as Editor in Chief of the Tulane Law Review, and received a B.A. from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington.

Mr. Eugene Eugene Hastings
E. Eugene Hastings has been serving as the Chapter 13 Trustee for the Monroe Division of the Western District of Louisiana since 2004. In February of 2015 he was also appointed as the case Trustee for all of the Chapter 12 cases pending in the State of Louisiana. Prior to serving as a Chapter 13 Trustee he was a Chapter 7 Trustee for approximately eight years and during this same time period he was appointed Trustee in several Chapter 11 cases. In addition to his duties as a Trustee, Gene Hastings has operated Bayou DeSiard Title Company, LLC since 1997. He received his undergraduate degree from Louisiana Tech University and is a 1984 graduate of the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at LSU. He is married to Margaret Adkins Hastings and they have two sons.

Ms. Jan M Hayden
Jan Hayden has handled bankruptcy and insolvency issues for her clients for over forty years. She is a shareholder in the Baker Donelson’s New Orleans office. Ms. Hayden's practice is concentrated on assisting clients with reorganizations under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, and she represents creditors, trustees, debtors-in-possession, and committees in a broad spectrum of industries that includes oil and gas, manufacturing, real estate, hotels, gambling, nursing homes, airlines, convenience stores and retail operations
Ms. Hayden is a member of the board of the American College of Bankruptcy as well as the American College of Bankruptcy Foundation Board. She is a Fellow in the American Bar Foundation and Louisiana Bar Foundation and currently serves as a vice president of the New Orleans Bar Association. She is a recipient of the Michelle Mendez Serviam Award 2016, Woman of the Year in Restructuring Award, International Women's Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation, 2011 and the LSBA 2009 Pro Bono Publico Award. She was named the Best Lawyers New Orleans Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law "Lawyer of the Year;" for 2010 and 2013 and New Orleans Bankruptcy Litigation "Lawyer of the Year;" for 2012 and 2014. Included in Louisiana Super Lawyers since 2007, she has frequently listed as one of the top 10 lawyers in Louisiana by the organization. She served as Chair of The Pro Bono Project of New Orleans and Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana Board. A graduate of LSU Law Center in 1979 and chair of both the LSBA CLE and MCLE committees, she is a frequent lecturer and author in the field of bankruptcy and insolvency.

Judge John S. Hodge
John S. Hodge serves as a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Western District of Louisiana. Prior to his appointment in 2018, he served as a Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee and was a member of a Shreveport law firm where his practice focused on bankruptcy, commercial litigation and commercial real estate. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Louisiana State University, and a J. D. from Louisiana State University Law Center.

Judge Marvin Isgur
Marvin Isgur has been a United States Bankruptcy Judge since February 1, 2004. He was appointed to a second term as a Bankruptcy Judge, which began on February 1, 2018. Chief Justice John Roberts, Jr. appointed Judge Isgur to the Judicial Conference Committee on Court Administration and Case Management. He is the sole bankruptcy judge appointed to the Committee by the Chief Justice. Judge Isgur was recently reappointed to a second term on the Judicial Conference Committee.

Judge Isgur currently presides over more than 4,000 bankruptcy cases. He has been instrumental in reforming consumer bankruptcy practices and rules both in the Southern District of Texas and nationally.

Judge Isgur is one of two judges who is assigned complex bankruptcy cases in the Southern District of Texas. In that capacity, he has presided over multiple bankruptcy cases with liabilities exceeding one billion dollars. In 2018, he was assigned the largest bankruptcy case filed in the United States.

In 1974, Judge Isgur received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Houston. In 1978 he received his MBA, with honors, from Stanford University. After earning his MBA, Judge Isgur served as an executive with a large real estate development company in Houston. In 1987, Judge Isgur returned to the University of Houston to attend law school. Judge Isgur was awarded his law degree, with high honors, in 1990 and began representing debtors and trustees in chapter 11 and 7 bankruptcy cases until his appointment as a Bankruptcy Judge. Judge Isgur is also one of a handful of attorneys in the nation with experience representing various parties in chapter 9 bankruptcy cases.

Judge Isgur has written over 500 memorandum opinions. He was one of the first judges to issue opinions interpreting the 2005 Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act.

Judge Isgur was a founding member and served on the board of directors for the Houston Urban Debate League, a non-profit organization that works in partnership with local schools to bring policy debate to high school students. He is one of the principal organizers of the annual University of Texas Consumer Bankruptcy Conference and is a frequent speaker at continuing legal education programs.

When his volunteer and court activities permit, Judge Isgur spends his weekends sailing on Galveston Bay.

Mr. Todd S Johns Chapter 13 Trustee
Todd Johns is currently the Chapter 13 Trustee for the Shreveport Division of the Western District of Louisiana and Chapter 12 Trustee for the State of Louisiana. He began his appointment as the Shreveport Chapter 13 Trustee on October 1, 2016. Prior to this appointment, Todd was the staff attorney and office manager for the Chapter 13 and Chapter 12 offices of Harold J. Barkley, Jr. from October 2005 to August 2016. He was the staff attorney for Harold J. Barkley, Jr and Locke D. Barkley from June 1999 to October 2005. Prior to his bankruptcy practice, Todd began his practice as an assistant state attorney for the 3rd Judicial District of Florida, and worked as an insurance defense attorney in Jackson, Mississippi. He is licensed to practice in all Courts in Mississippi and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. He is also an inactive member of the Florida Bar.

Todd is a native of Live Oak, Florida, and attended Jacksonville University (FL) and the Mississippi College School of Law. He is a member of the Booth-Politz Inn of Court, the American Bankruptcy Institute, and the Western District of Louisiana Rules Committee. He has previously been a speaker at the Mississippi Bankruptcy Conference, the LSU Bankruptcy Conference, the Region 5 Standing Trustee Training and the NACTT annual seminar.

Judge David R Jones
David R. Jones was sworn in as a bankruptcy judge for the Southern District of Texas on September 30, 2011. Judge Jones was appointed as chief judge in 2015. Prior to taking the bench, Judge Jones was a partner in the bankruptcy group of Porter Hedges, LLP. Judge Jones received an LLM from Duke University in 2018, his Juris Doctor from the University of Houston in 1992 where he served as editor-in-chief of the Houston Law Review. Judge Jones received his Master of Business Administration from Southern Methodist University in 1986 and his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Duke University in 1983.

Mr. Benjamin W. Kadden
Benjamin (Ben) Kadden is the Managing Partner and leader of the Restructuring and Insolvency Section at Lugenbuhl. His areas of focus include bankruptcy, restructuring, creditors’ rights, corporate and commercial law, mergers and acquisitions, litigation, and asset-based finance. Ben has acted as lead counsel for various Official Committees of Unsecured Creditors, as well as special counsel to the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the Trico Marine bankruptcy. He has also served as Debtor’s counsel in a number of Chapter 11 proceedings, including Gulf Fleet Holdings, Inc., East Cameron Partners, L.P., and Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co.
Admitted to practice in Louisiana and Texas, Ben has also served as special or local counsel in several large Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases in the Southern District of Texas. He has represented numerous liquidating and litigating trusts arising out of confirmed plans of reorganization and has participated in a number of merger and acquisition transactions. Because of his experience in complex Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases, Ben has knowledge regarding the purchase or sale of assets by distressed companies, including navigating the process while a buyer or seller is in bankruptcy.
Ben is admitted to practice and regularly does so in the following jurisdictions: Louisiana, Texas, U.S. Fifth Circuit, and all U.S. District Courts in Louisiana and Texas. His is ranked by Chambers USA ranking, is recognized by Best Lawyers and Super Lawyers, a New Orleans Top Lawyer recipient, and an AV Preeminent Rated Attorney by Martindale-Hubbell.

Judge John W. Kolwe
John W. Kolwe was appointed United States Bankruptcy Judge by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, effective August 12, 2015. He was sworn in by Bankruptcy Judge Robert R. Summerhays and served in the Alexandria and Monroe Divisions of the Western District of Louisiana until April 25, 2019. On October 5, 2018, he was appointed to the Lafayette and Lake Charles Divisions to fill the vacancy left by Judge Summerhays. He served as Chief Judge for the Western District of Louisiana from April 2018 to April 2023. He received his B.S. in Accounting from Centenary College of Louisiana in 1985. Following graduation from Centenary, Judge Kolwe worked as a CPA. Judge Kolwe received his J.D. in 1991from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center. He practiced law in Lafayette, Louisiana from 1991 until joining the bench. John is presently the Fifth Circuit Governor of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges. He is also a member of the Dean’s Council for the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center. John and his wife, Miriam, reside in Lafayette, Louisiana, where they raised their two children.

Judge Michelle V. Larson
The Honorable Michelle V. Larson
Northern District of Texas – Dallas Division

Michelle V. Larson was appointed to serve as a bankruptcy judge for the Northern District of Texas – Dallas Division on July 7, 2020.
Prior to taking the bench, Judge Larson was a resident practitioner in Dallas for 24 years. Immediately before her appointment, Judge Larson was an insolvency and restructuring partner with the law firm of Carrington, Coleman, Sloman & Blumenthal, L.L.P. She began her legal career with what is now Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP and also practiced for several years with Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP. As a practitioner, Judge Larson had experience in all areas related to commercial bankruptcy and restructurings, including complex debtor’s and creditor’s representations, out-of-court restructurings, liquidations, secured finance, and commercial litigation. She worked on bankruptcy cases across the country in various industries, including real estate, telecommunications, health care, sports, banking, energy, and retail and was instrumentally involved in precedential bankruptcy appeals before courts of appeal throughout the country and the U.S. Supreme Court, including GWI PCS 1, Inc. and NextWave Personal Communications Inc.
Judge Larson is a member of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, the American Bankruptcy Institute, and the John C. Ford American Inns of Court, as well as other local bar groups. She is a frequent contributor at conferences addressing a variety of bankruptcy issues. She has also successfully served as mediator for her bankruptcy colleagues in the Northern District of Texas.

Prior to her appointment, she spearheaded her prior firm’s Women’s Business Development Initiative and has been recognized for her pro bono efforts.

Judge Larson is originally from Houma, Louisiana and graduated as the valedictorian of Nicholls State University, summa cum laude, with a B.S. in Accounting and a minor in English. She is also a recipient of the Nicholls State Hall of Fame award. She received her J.D. from Loyola University School of Law in New Orleans, Louisiana, magna cum laude, where she was a member of Law Review and Moot Court and was recognized for excellence in Constitutional Law and Business Organizations.
Finally, prior to taking the bench, Judge Larson was a Certified Public Accountant, having received her license in Louisiana.

Mr. Fernand L. Laudumiey IV
Fernand “Ferdie” Laudumiey’s practice primarily focuses on the areas of bankruptcy law and complex bankruptcy litigation. He has successfully advised and represented a wide range of clients in both Chapter 11 reorganization and Chapter 7 liquidation proceedings, including bankruptcy trustees, debtors, debtors in possession, and creditors in Louisiana, Texas and other jurisdictions. Ferdie’s extensive experience in his representation of bankruptcy trustees has encompassed the prosecution of preference, fraudulent conveyance, and other avoidance action proceedings, prosecution of discharge complaints, objections to exemptions and claims, executory contract matters, and various other aspects of the general administration of bankruptcy estates.

Ferdie has also concentrated his practice on real estate law and property matters, advising and representing appraisers, lenders, and title insurance companies in both federal and state court. He has handled breach of contract and title claims, breach of professional duty issues, foreclosures, and he has represented clients in matters before the Louisiana Real Estate Appraisal Board.

Ferdie earned his J.D. from Louisiana State University Law Center, where he was the recipient of the Austin W. Lewis Scholarship Award. Upon graduation, he clerked two years for the Honorable Marcel Livaudais, Jr., U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

Professor Angela K. LIttwin
Professor Littwin studies bankruptcy, consumer, and commercial law from an empirical perspective. Her current research includes studying the attitudes towards bankruptcy among consumers being sued by debt collectors, bankruptcy local legal culture, as well as the relationship between consumer credit and domestic violence (DV). She has published in journals such as the Texas Law Review, University of Pennsylvania Law Review, California Law Review, and American Bankruptcy Law Journal. She has recently published articles about racial disparities in bankruptcy chapter use, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's complaints process and supervision program as well as on how consumer bankruptcy attorneys adapted to the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act. Professor Littwin has been a principal investigator for a number of empirical projects. With collaborator Adrienne Adam of Michigan State University, Professor Littwin has received funding from the National Science Foundation to study debt and domestic violence. She is working with Professor Pamela Foohey at Indiana University Maurer School of Law to study financially-distressed consumers’ knowledge of and feelings about bankruptcy and with Professor Bob Lawless at the University of Illinois to study local legal culture in consumer bankruptcy.

Professor Littwin received her undergraduate degree from Brown University and graduated from Harvard Law School in 2002. After law school, she clerked for the Honorable Rosemary Barkett of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and founded ROAD (Reaching Out About Depression), a community-organizing project for low-income women. Prior to her appointment at the University of Texas School of Law, she was a Climenko Fellow and Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School. She joined the UT faculty in 2008.

Professor Littwin teaches bankruptcy, secured credit, and a seminar on the regulation of credit cards.

Judge Keith M Lundin
Judge Keith Lundin was appointed to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Tennessee in 1982. He retired in June 2016. He served as a judge on the first Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Sixth Circuit from 1997-99. He is on the faculty of the Federal Judicial Center. In addition to teaching as an adjunct professor at Vanderbilt Law School, he taught at the University of New Mexico, where he was the Weihofen Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law in 2006, at Emory University School of Law and on numerous seminar and institute faculties. He is the author of LundinOnChapter13.com and has been a managing editor for Norton Bankruptcy Law Adviser (Thompson/Reuters/West) since 1982. After earning his law degree from Vanderbilt, he clerked for Chief Judge Harry Phillips of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. While in private practice, he served as standing Chapter 13 trustee for the Middle District of Tennessee. He teaches Effective Legal Writing for the Real World; Marijuana and Bankruptcy; Discharge and Dischargeability; and Chapter 13.