Filing Delays in Other Bankruptcy Categories Expected in Short Term

New York - June 3, 2020 – Epiq released bankruptcy filings statistics today from its AACER business unit that shows commercial Chapter 11 filings were up 48% in May as compared to May 2019 with a total of 724 new petitions, and up 30% over April with 165 new petitions. 

There was a slight increase month over month in U.S. bankruptcy filings. Across all U.S. bankruptcy code chapters, the total number of new bankruptcy filings in May 2020 was 39,943. This represents a 3.9% increase from April, which had 38,440 new filings.

Overall, commercial filings were up 13% over April with a total of 2,571 new filings. Non-commercial filings were up only 1% over April with a total of 37,372 new filings across all chapters.

“May was largely consistent with April’s new U.S. bankruptcy filing numbers as the country delays seeking bankruptcy protections during the global COVID-19 pandemic. We expect these delays to continue while key government programs address personal and commercial borrower liquidity concerns,” commented Chris Kruse, senior vice president of Epiq AACER.

Since the beginning of 2020, the weekly average overall new bankruptcy filings are down about 3%. During this period, the largest number of new filings each week have been non-commercial Chapter 7 filings, where the weekly average is down over 45%. “Our AACER customers are watching this category very closely as early indications of growth in this segment is a likely indicator of accelerated new filing activity,” said Kruse.

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 https://www.epiqglobal.com.

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 here.

Press Contact
Catherine Ostheimer
Epiq Global
+1 646 282 1800
costheimer@epiqglobal.com