What We Do
We use publicly available court data to measure consumer bankruptcy outcomes at scale. Our tools screen for statutory violations, compare attorney performance against empirical baselines, and identify patterns that affect hundreds of thousands of debtors each year.
Every dataset is derived from public records. Every tool is open-source. Every finding is reproducible.
Our Section 1328(f) Discharge Screener has analyzed filings across all 94 federal bankruptcy districts and identified 264 cases where debtors received discharges despite a statutory bar.
Featured
BAPCPA at 20: What the Data Shows
Twenty years after the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act, an empirical assessment of its major consumer provisions using 4.9 million cases. The discharge bar, the means test, credit counseling, filing fees, completion rates, and the attorney effect.
Latest Reports
Chapter 13 Dismissal Rates by District: National Analysis
Chapter 13 has a national completion rate of approximately 33-40%. Dismissal rates vary by more than 30 percentage points across districts. Attorney quality is the strongest predictor of outcomes.
What Is a Bankruptcy Mill? A Data-Driven Definition
No standard empirical definition exists. This report proposes a framework using 8 measurable indicators, validated against published sanctions opinions from federal courts and state bar authorities.
Measuring Bankruptcy Attorney Performance Using Public Data
Control group construction, metric selection, statistical validation, and interpretation guidelines for measuring attorney performance using PACER data. Designed for replication in any federal district.
How We Screened 4.9 Million Bankruptcy Cases
Technical walkthrough of the Section 1328(f) screening methodology: data sources, filing-date-to-filing-date calculation per In re Blendheim, de-staling procedures, and verification.
How to Read Your Attorney's PACER Record
A plain-English guide to using free public court records to evaluate a bankruptcy attorney's track record before you hire them.
Docket Watch
Tracking enforcement actions, rule changes, and significant developments in consumer bankruptcy accountability.
Rules Committee Submission Accepted
Empirical data supporting Suggestion 25-BK-N (Connelly/Kahn proposed amendment to Fed. R. Bankr. P. 4004) submitted to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Data covers 4.9 million cases across 94 districts with open-source screening tool.
Section 1328(f) Screening Complete: 264 Verified Violations
Full de-staling complete across all 94 federal bankruptcy districts. 264 unique cases identified where debtors received Chapter 13 discharges despite falling within the Section 1328(f) statutory bar window. Filing-date-to-filing-date methodology per In re Blendheim.
Legal References
All research references the following federal statutes and rules. Full text available from the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School.
- 11 U.S.C. Section 1328 - Discharge (including subsection (f) discharge bar)
- 11 U.S.C. Section 727 - Discharge under Chapter 7 (including (a)(8) and (a)(9) time bars)
- 11 U.S.C. Section 109 - Who may be a debtor (including (g) filing bar)
- 11 U.S.C. Section 329 - Debtor's transactions with attorneys (fee disgorgement)
- Fed. R. Bankr. P. 4004 - Granting or Denying a Discharge
- 28 U.S.C. Section 2075 - Bankruptcy Rules Enabling Act
Tools
1328(f) Discharge Screener
Check whether Section 1328(f) bars discharge in a specific case. Client-side only - no data collected.
Use ScreenerNational District Map
Interactive map of all 94 federal bankruptcy districts with screening status, violation counts, and prior-filer rates.
View MapSource Code
All tools are open-source. Inspect the methodology, run your own analysis, or contribute improvements.
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