The Bankruptcy Court Clerk recently gave a luncheon talk at the County Bar: a State of the Union for bankruptcy practice. There were decent chocolate chip and walnut cookies and a lot of statistics. And Americans love stats. Which explains the endurance of baseball.* Herein are highlights:**

1. Bankruptcy filings are rising exponentially. 17,136 local filings are expected in 09. Back in 2006, there were 4,349 filings.***

2. The number of bankruptcy attorneys is rising exponentially....

3. A bit of counter-intuition: nearly 97% of chapter 7 debtors are represented by counsel. Yet, about 30% of chapter 13 debtors file in propria persona without an attorney. It doesn't compute given chapter 13s are more complex than chapter 7s. So why is this happening? Chapter 13's are not always feasible. Attorneys may reject those cases that have poor prospects. It's hard to charge a client, when you can't possibly produce a result. But a client can't reject her own case and is compelled to try even if it's futile. Going down fighting is at least honorable. On the current ch. 13 docket, there is one successful pro se debtor.

4. What causes bankruptcy? Traditionally, medical crises are cited as a major factor. Locally, divorce is a greater trigger of bankruptcy than illness. As expected, mortgages and job loss are primary determinants.

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*Forgive the slight to the sport and don't worry, son: I'll still answer yes, when you thank me for the ball and say, Dad, c'mon let's play.

**For your info without the $65 luncheon fee (the cookies weren't that good).

***For further perspective consider the numbers from 05. By the end of that year, Congress had achieved its predicted overhaul of the bankruptcy code. Restrictions were significantly increased. Record numbers hastened to file in 05 in a mad rush to beat that impending crackdown. The number of 05 filings was inflated, yet the final tally of 15,686 still falls short of this year's extrapolated numbers.