ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The New Year began with total bankruptcy
filings in the United States heading on a downward path as the January level
dropped by 11 percent year-over-year.

According to data provided by Epiq Systems, the American
Bankruptcy Institute said January contained 78,471 total bankruptcy filings,
down from last January when 88,028 cases were filed.

Officials found that consumer filings declined 10 percent to
74,743 from the consumer filing total of 83,022 recorded in January of last
year. The total commercial filings in January of this year also decreased to
3,728, representing a 26 percent decline from the 5,006 business filings
recorded last January.

Total commercial Chapter 11 filings experienced the largest
decrease as the 479 filings fell 36 percent from the 749 commercial chapter 11
filings in January 2012.

"Filings continue to be restrained by reduced consumer
spending, low interest rates and sustained deleveraging by businesses and
households," said ABI executive director Samuel Gerdano. "These trends point to
continued declines in bankruptcy filings in 2013."

ABI indicated total bankruptcy filings for the month of
January increased 4 percent compared to the 75,583 total filings registered in
December. The total noncommercial filings for January also represented a 4-percent
increase from the December noncommercial filing total of 71,817. The

Furthermore, the institute noted January's commercial filing
total represented a 1-percent decline from the December commercial filing total
of 3,765. The January commercial Chapter 11 filings represented a 14-percent
decrease when compared to the 559 filings the previous month.

Officials went on to mention the average nationwide per
capita bankruptcy-filing rate in January was 3.04 (total filings per 1,000 per
population). Average total filings per day in January were 2,540, an 11 percent
decrease from the 2,840 total daily filings in January 2012.

States with the highest per capita filing rate (total
filings per 1,000 population) in January were:

1. Tennessee (6.02)
2. Alabama (5.01)
3. Georgia (4.92)
4. Illinois (4.70)
5. Nevada (4.63)

ABI partnered with Epiq Systems, a provider of managed
technology for the global legal profession, in order to provide the most
current bankruptcy filing data for analysts, researchers and members of the
news media.

Chapter 11 Commission to Hold Public Hearing at the VALCON
2013 Conference

ABI's Chapter 11 Commission will hold its first public
hearing of 2013 on Thursday to hear witness testimony on potential fixes to the
bankruptcy code for business bankruptcies.

Specifically, officials said the commission and its advisory
committee on the role of valuation in Chapter 11 cases will hear testimony
addressing the various methods of enterprise valuation relevant to plan
confirmation and valuation issues relevant to timing issues such as estoppel
and disclosure of expert opinions.

ABI highlighted the Commission members include 20 of the
leading professionals involved in complex corporate restructuring. More than
130 other top practitioners are studying issues on 13 topical advisory
committees. The commission began its work last year.

For more information on ABI's Chapter 11 Commission, visit
http://commission.abi.org.


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