Consistent with prior years, the most common venue for bankruptcy filings was Delaware with 49 of the 138 bankruptcy filings by companies with over $100 million in assets in the first three quarters of 2020.

For the first time since 2005, the Southern District of Texas accounted for more than 25 percent of bankruptcies filed by companies with over $100 million in assets so far this year. Of the 41 bankruptcies filed in the Southern District of Texas in Q1–Q3 2020, 28 were by companies in the Mining, Oil, and Gas industry.

The third most common venue for bankruptcy filings by companies with over $100 million in assets in Q1–Q3 2020 was the Southern District of New York with 21 filings. Unlike Delaware and the Southern District of Texas, filings in the Southern District of New York were roughly in line with prior years.

These top three courts (Delaware, Southern District of Texas, and Southern District of New York) account for 111 of the 138 bankruptcies (80 percent) of companies with over $100 million in assets in the first three quarters of 2020.

The Bankruptcy & COVID-19 Working Group, formed by a group of bankruptcy scholars, warned in May 2020 that the flood of bankruptcies triggered by COVID-19 may overwhelm the court system.

80% Percentage of bankruptcies filed in the top three courts in Q1–Q3 2020

Figure 6: Heat Map of Bankruptcies by Venue 2005–Q3 2020

_{Source: BankruptcyData}

_{Note: Only Chapter 11 and Chapter 7 bankruptcy filings by companies (both public and private) with over $100 million in reported assets are included. “Other” includes courts with fewer than five bankruptcies in all years during the time period. 2020 includes January 1, 2020, through September 30, 2020.}