The "Bankruptcy Administration Improvement Act of 2020" (S. 4996) was signed into law yesterday by President Donald Trump. The bill extends 25 temporary bankruptcy court judgeships for a further five years in an effort to ensure the integrity and effectiveness of the country's insolvency system during a period of increased filings by large corporations in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Among others, the extensions apply to all seven temporary seats on the Delaware bankruptcy bench, one of the busiest jurisdictions in the country for complex chapter 11 cases which has only a single permanent seat. The new law replaces the current fee schedules with a simplified and lower fee structure that will sunset in five years. The new structure reduces quarterly fees paid by nearly all chapter 11 debtors by 18 to 75 percent. Click here to read the bill text.
