Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Bankruptcy Blogs -> A Texas Bankruptcy Lawyer's Blog

Bankruptcy

: A Texas Bankruptcy Lawyer's Blog

Texas Chapter 11 Filings Continue to Soar

By Stephen Sather

Texas chapter 11 filings continue to soar, with second quarter 2009 filings nearly triple the level from the same quarter in 2008. Filings in each of Texas's four districts were greater than in any of the previous five quarters.

Statewide, there were 430 new chapter 11 cases filed from April 1, 2009 to June 30, 2009. During the same period in 2008, there were only 152 cases filed.

Leading the state was the Western District of Texas with 176 new chapter 11 cases. This contrasts with less than 20 filings per quarter in each of the first three quarters of 2008. The Western District numbers were boosted by the filing of 121 cases related to Crescent Real Estate. However, when these cases are backed out, the Western District still had 55 additional cases, which would be a recent high for the district.

To place the Western District of Texas numbers in perspective, the Clerk's office has a summary of annual filings since 1993. See here. During the period from 1993 to 2008, the Western District had a low of 79 chapter 11 cases in 2006 and a high of 246 in 1993. In one day, the Western District had more chapter 11 filings than for the entire years of 1999, 2000, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. The 228 cases filed during the first half of 2009 are greater than any year's annual totals except for 1993 when there were 246 filings. However, this record will likely be eclipsed by the end of the year.

The Northern District of Texas followed with 134 cases compared to just 57 during the same quarter of 2008. The Southern District of Texas reported 93 new chapter 11s, while the Eastern District of Texas had 27 new cases.

Full post as published by A Texas Bankruptcy Lawyer's Blog on September 04, 2009 (boomark / email).