Business bankruptcies in Texas this year are down significantly from last year’s record number of court-supervised restructurings, but they remain much higher than the prepandemic filings and far exceed the number seen any in other state in the U.S., the Houston Chronicle reported. They are also more complicated. Companies now filing for bankruptcy, according to the top federal bankruptcy judge in Houston, are facing much more complex issues and finding it considerably more challenging to restructure. The Southern District of Texas saw fewer than half the number of bankruptcy filings during the first six months of 2021 compared to the second half of 2020. Filings were down 40 percent from the the first six months of last year, according to new federal court data provided to the Texas Lawbook by Androvett Legal Media Research. Nearly 550 businesses filed for chapter 11 protection in Texas through June 30 — down from 815 during the same period last year and down from an all-time high of 967 filings in the second half of 2020. But the biggest bankruptcies were filed as a result of the February freeze, including those of Brazos Electric Cooperative and power retailer Griddy Energy. Both filed in the Southern District of Texas. “The volume of new cases coming in is certainly down and we are not as busy as last year,” U.S. Bankruptcy Chief Judge David Jones said. “But the cases now are much more difficult and more problematic than in 2020.”
