Lex Machina Releases 2022 Bankruptcy Report

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Nov 17, 2022, 11:00 ET

Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in 2021 dropped to the lowest number in a decade; case filing trends revealed the disparate effects of the pandemic on different Chapter 11 bankruptcies

MENLO PARK, Calif., Nov. 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Lex Machina, a LexisNexis company, today releases its Bankruptcy Report. The report examines trends in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, which include the entire dockets in any bankruptcy proceeding filed in a United States Bankruptcy Court under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. It focuses on the five-year period from 2017 to 2021 and surveys emerging trends in case filings, courts, judges, law firms, parties, and timing metrics. The report often focuses on different sets of data, filtering cases in order to provide analytics on business debtors, individual debtors, involuntary petitions, confirmed plans, and bankruptcy cases sorted by total liabilities.

"This was a fascinating report to produce, both because it showcases data and analytics from our newest court system, but also because the analytics revealed some powerful insights and intriguing trends," said Laura Hopkins, Lex Machina's bankruptcy legal data expert and editor of the report. "Not only could we see the quantifiable effect the pandemic and its aftermath had on Chapter 11 proceedings, but our filters also highlighted the different effects the pandemic had on bankruptcy filings depending on the type of debtor and total amount of liabilities."

Findings from the report include:

After a brief spike in 2020, the number of Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings filed in 2021 (4,526 cases) was the lowest number of any year in the past decade.
The most active bankruptcy court for Chapter 11 proceedings over the last five years was the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.
The court with the most Chapter 11 confirmed plans in the last five years was the Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California.
Judge David R. Jones from the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas presided over the highest number of total Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings over the five-year period from 2017 to 2021.
Jackson Walker represented debtors in the highest number of Chapter 11 proceedings over the past five years, while Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones represented creditor committees in the highest number of cases during the same period.
The median time to plan confirmation was 393 days for Chapter 11 proceedings terminated from 2017 to 2021.

Lex Machina's reports and software enable practitioners to devise data-driven litigation strategies. The metrics in this report may help readers decide who to pursue as clients, how long a matter may take, or what level of counsel experience you are facing. This research supplements traditional legal research and anecdotal data for a competitive edge in court.

Bankruptcy Report Webcast

Lex Machina is hosting a webcast to discuss the report on November 17, 2022 at noon ET/9am PT with Guy Fustine (Shareholder at Knox Law Firm), Laura Hopkins (Lex Machina's Legal Data Expert in Bankruptcy), and Aria Nejad (Lex Machina's in-house counsel). Register for the event or view a recording: https://pages.lexmachina.com/2022-Bankruptcy-Report-Webcast_LP.html

About LexisNexis Legal & Professional

LexisNexis Legal & Professional® provides legal, regulatory, and business information and analytics that help customers increase their productivity, improve decision-making, achieve better outcomes, and advance the rule of law around the world. As a digital pioneer, the company was the first to bring legal and business information online with its Lexis® and Nexis® services. LexisNexis Legal & Professional, which serves customers in more than 150 countries with 10,500 employees worldwide, is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers.

About Lex Machina

Lex Machina fundamentally changes how companies and law firms compete in the business and practice of law. The company provides strategic insights on judges, lawyers, law firms, parties, and other critical information across 20 federal practice areas and a rapidly growing number of state courts. Lex Machina allows law firms and companies to predict the behaviors and outcomes that different legal strategies will produce, enabling them to win cases and close business.

Lex Machina was named "Greater Bay Area Top Workplaces 2022" (The San Francisco Chronicle Top Workplaces in the Bay Area 2022), "Legal Tech Company of the Year 2021" (CIO Review, 2021), "2021 Legal Technology Trailblazer" (National Law Journal Trailblazer Awards, 2021), Winner of the "Media Excellence" Award for Analytics/Big Data (13th Annual Media Excellence Award, 2021). Based in Silicon Valley, Lex Machina is part of LexisNexis, a leading global provider of legal, regulatory, and business information and analytics. For more information, please visit www.lexmachina.com.

SOURCE Lex Machina