Bankruptcy Courts Must Be Beefed Up Before Surge, Academics Say

Congress should increase the number of bankruptcy judges and secure additional funding for the bankruptcy system ahead of an anticipated surge in filings spurred by the Covid-19 pandemic, a committee of scholars said.

“We strongly believe that our bankruptcy system, if properly staffed, will be capable of managing the financial distress that the pandemic has created for large corporations,” University of California, Hastings Law School professor Jared Ellias wrote in a letter sent late Thursday.

But a flood of consumer and small business filings can clog up the courts for large business reorganization cases and municipal filings, both of which ...