Epiq released its July 2020 bankruptcy filing statistics from its AACER business. Continuing the trend from the previous month, commercial Chapter 11 filings are up 52% over July 2019 with 642 new filings, which is up from 423 last year. In the first seven months of 2020, Chapter 11 commercial filings are up 30% over the same period last year, with a total of 4,246 filings.
 

Year to date, Chapter 11 filings are up 30% versus the same period last year

NEW YORK – AUG. 5, 2020 – Epiq, a global leader in legal services, released its July 2020 bankruptcy filing statistics from its AACER business. Continuing the trend from the previous month, commercial Chapter 11 filings are up 52% over July 2019 with 642 new filings, which is up from 423 last year. In the first seven months of 2020, Chapter 11 commercial filings are up 30% over the same period last year, with a total of 4,246 filings.

“As expected, we continue to see significant year over year growth in Chapter 11 commercial bankruptcy filings,” said Deirdre O’Connor, managing director of corporate restructuring at Epiq. “The COVID-19 pandemic is reshaping consumer buying habits. Therefore, we will continue to see large retail, energy, and transportation businesses taking advantage of the tools provided by a formal bankruptcy to restructure to be more profitable and competitive in the long-term.”

Non-commercial bankruptcy is benefiting from “government-backed programs that have injected liquidity into the markets,” said Chris Kruse, senior vice president of Epiq AACER.  Chapter 13 non-commercial filings are down 38% in 2020 with 99,136 filings, which is down from 159,602 filings in the same period of 2019.  Chapter 7 non-commercial filings are down 21% in July 2020 with 30,177 new filings, which is down from 38,033 the same period of 2019. 

However, total non-commercial filings have increased each of the last four months and are up 11% since April with 40,072 in July 2020, which is up from 36,151 in April 2020.  “Perhaps these numbers are early indications of the pending personal bankruptcy spike expected to start later this year as the longer-term impact of the COVID-19 begins to manifest,” said Kruse.

About Epiq AACER
Epiq AACER is the market leader in U.S. Bankruptcy Court data, workflow automation software and services for organizations who need to leverage accurate and timely bankruptcy data to lower their financial risk, reduce costs, and accelerate bankruptcy operations. Learn more at www.AACER.com.

About Epiq
Epiq, a global leader in the legal services industry, takes on large-scale, increasingly complex tasks for corporate counsel, law firms, and business professionals with efficiency, clarity, and confidence. Clients rely on Epiq to streamline the administration of business operations, class action and mass tort, court reporting, eDiscovery, regulatory, compliance, restructuring, and bankruptcy matters. Epiq subject-matter experts and technologies create efficiency through expertise and deliver confidence to high-performing clients around the world. Learn more at www.epiqglobal.com.

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Epiq
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