Eleventh Circuit · Florida

United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Florida

United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Florida has processed 115,859 federal bankruptcy filings in the Federal Judicial Center Integrated Database, ranking 72nd of 94 US bankruptcy districts by total case volume, with Chapter 7 accounting for 68.23% of classified filings.

Data updated . Methodology & sources.
115,859Total cases (FJC IDB)
3,934FY 2025 filings
30.02%Chapter 13 share
68.23%Chapter 7 share
18.54%Prior-filer rate (Ch 13)
56.26%RECAP coverage

National rank: 72nd of 94 by total case volume (24th percentile). See all rankings below.

Section 01Filing Volume

Annual federal bankruptcy filings in N.D. Fla., FY 2010–2026. The most recent fiscal year is rendered with a muted marker to indicate its incomplete status.

FY2010: 10,570 filingsFY2011: 9,094 filingsFY2012: 7,935 filingsFY2013: 6,857 filingsFY2014: 6,001 filingsFY2015: 5,581 filingsFY2016: 4,968 filingsFY2017: 4,909 filingsFY2018: 5,068 filingsFY2019: 5,227 filingsFY2020: 4,103 filingsFY2021: 3,251 filingsFY2022: 3,094 filingsFY2023: 3,569 filingsFY2024: 3,781 filingsFY2025: 3,934 filingsFY2026: 687 filings (incomplete — current FY)20102012201420162018202020222024202610,5700

Section 02Chapter Mix

Distribution of cases filed in N.D. Fla. by bankruptcy chapter. Computed over the 115,859 cases with a non-blank chapter code in the FJC IDB.

Chapter 7: 79,054 cases (68.2%)Ch 7 68.2%Chapter 13: 34,786 cases (30.0%)Ch 13 30.0%Chapter 11: 1,857 cases (1.6%)Chapter 12: 160 cases (0.1%)Chapter 15: 1 cases (0.0%)
Chapter 7 — Liquidation (68.2%, 79,054 cases) Chapter 13 — Wage-earner plan (30.0%, 34,786 cases) Chapter 11 — Reorganization (1.6%, 1,857 cases) Chapter 12 — Family farmer / fisherman (0.1%, 160 cases) Chapter 15 — Cross-border / ancillary (0.0%, 1 cases)
ChapterPurposeCasesShare
Chapter 7Liquidation79,05468.23%
Chapter 13Wage-earner plan34,78630.02%
Chapter 11Reorganization1,8571.6%
Chapter 12Family farmer / fisherman1600.14%
Chapter 15Cross-border / ancillary10.0%

Section 03Case Dispositions

Of cases filed in N.D. Fla. from FY 2005 onward, 55,599 have a terminal disposition recorded in the FJC Integrated Database (48.7% of 114,275 in-window cases). 58,676 remain unclassified — either still open at the last FJC extract or not yet coded.

Percentages reflect cases with a terminal disposition coded in the FJC Integrated Database. Blank dispositions (cases still open, or outcomes not yet coded at the last FJC extract) are counted separately in "unclassified" and excluded from the percentage denominator. This is typical of IDB coverage; see the methodology page for detail.
Discharged: 47,772 (85.9%)85.9%Dismissed: 5,015 (9.0%)9.0%Converted to another chapter: 2,342 (4.2%)Other disposition: 465 (0.8%)
Discharged (85.9%, 47,772 cases) Dismissed (9.0%, 5,015 cases) Converted to another chapter (4.2%, 2,342 cases) Other disposition (0.8%, 465 cases)
OutcomeCasesShare of classified
Discharged47,77285.92%
Dismissed5,0159.02%
Converted to another chapter2,3424.21%
Other disposition4650.84%

Section 04Prior-Filer Rate (Chapter 13)

Of Chapter 13 cases in N.D. Fla. with a coded prior-filing flag in the FJC IDB, 18.54% (5,868 cases) carry a recorded prior bankruptcy filing. This metric is relevant to 11 U.S.C. § 1328(f) discharge eligibility.

National rank on Chapter 13 prior-filer rate: 80th of 94 (16th percentile).

Classified subset: 31,647 of 34,786 Chapter 13 cases. How this is computed.

Section 05Pro Se Filing Rate

Of classified N.D. Fla. filings, 5.65% (6,330 cases) were filed without an attorney of record.

National rank on pro se rate: 25th of 94 (74th percentile).

Classified subset: 111,943 of 115,859 cases. How this is computed.

Section 06National Rank

How N.D. Fla. compares to the other 93 US federal bankruptcy districts on the metrics above. A higher percentile indicates a higher value of the metric (e.g., 95th percentile on total volume means top 5% by case count).

Total case volume
Rank 72 of 94 (24th percentile)
Chapter 13 volume
Rank 74 of 94 (22th percentile)
Prior-filer rate (Ch 13)
Rank 80 of 94 (16th percentile)
Pro se rate
Rank 25 of 94 (74th percentile)

Section 07Peer Districts

Three districts in the Eleventh Circuit closest in total case volume to N.D. Fla..

Section 08Sitting Judges

Judges listed on the official court website at https://www.flnb.uscourts.gov. Names and roles only; OBP does not publish qualitative characterizations of judges.

RoleName
Chief JudgeKaren K. Specie

Section 09Courthouse & Divisions

Primary courthouse location as published on https://www.flnb.uscourts.gov.

United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Florida
110 East Park Avenue, Suite 100, Tallahassee, FL 32301

Court website ↗

Section 10Local Rules & Filing Fees

Statutory federal filing fees are uniform across all US bankruptcy districts: $338 for Chapter 7, $313 for Chapter 13, $1,738 for Chapter 11, and $278 for Chapter 12 (current as of 2025). N.D. Fla. administers its local rules at the following location:

Section 11Privacy Rule (FRBP 9037) Context

Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 9037 requires that Social Security Numbers, dates of birth, financial account numbers, and minor-child identifiers be redacted in bankruptcy filings. The Federal Judicial Center’s April 2024 empirical study, Unredacted Social Security Numbers in Federal Court PACER Documents, measured compliance across the federal court system.

National findings (Garri et al., 2024): In 37 randomly selected days of 2022 PACER filings, researchers identified 22,391 unredacted Social Security Numbers affecting approximately 8,300 individuals across 3,521 cases. 72% of identified SSNs appear noncompliant with the privacy rules. In proof-of-claim filings specifically, the noncompliance rate is 98%.

A small number of documents account for a disproportionate share of exposure: 45% of unredacted SSNs (10,042) appeared in just 17 documents, which the authors frame as evidence of systemic actors rather than widespread filer error. The study also documented 54 violations involving Bankruptcy Form 121 — the form the court tells debtors “will not make publicly available.”

The Federal Judicial Center’s findings are not broken out by district, and OBP does not publish per-district compliance rates. The FJC study measures appearance of noncompliance, not adjudicated Rule 9037 violations. See the methodology page for why that distinction matters.

Primary source: Unredacted Social Security Numbers in Federal Court PACER Documents (FJC, April 2024).

Section 12RECAP Coverage

Of the 115,859 cases recorded for N.D. Fla. in the FJC IDB, 65,180 dockets (56.26%) are available free of charge in the Free Law Project’s RECAP Archive. Every case link on this site resolves to a free CourtListener page — no PACER fee, no paywall, no login required.

If the coverage number is lower than you’d expect, you can help. Installing the free RECAP browser extension contributes any PACER documents you already pay for to the public archive, at no cost to you.

Section 13Frequently Asked Questions

How many federal bankruptcy cases have been filed in N.D. Fla.?

According to the Federal Judicial Center Integrated Database, 115,859 cases have been filed in United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Florida. N.D. Fla. ranks 72 of 94 US bankruptcy districts by total filing volume (24th percentile).

What is the chapter mix of bankruptcy filings in N.D. Fla.?

Of classified filings in N.D. Fla.: Chapter 13 accounts for 30.02% (34,786 cases), Chapter 7 for 68.23% (79,054 cases). The remaining filings consist of Chapter 11 reorganizations, Chapter 12 family farmer cases, and occasional cross-border proceedings.

What happens to bankruptcy cases in N.D. Fla.?

Of 55,599 cases with recorded outcomes (filed FY 2005 onward), 85.92% ended in discharge and 9.02% in dismissal. The remaining cases were converted to a different chapter or closed for other reasons. Cases still open at the last FJC extract are counted separately and excluded from these percentages.

What is the prior-filer rate on Chapter 13 cases in N.D. Fla.?

Of Chapter 13 cases in N.D. Fla. with prior-filing flags coded, 18.54% had a recorded prior bankruptcy filing. This metric is relevant to 11 U.S.C. § 1328(f) and refiling screening; see the methodology page for detail on how the flag is assigned.

What percentage of bankruptcy cases in N.D. Fla. are filed pro se?

Of N.D. Fla. filings with representation status coded, 5.65% were filed without an attorney of record.

How many N.D. Fla. cases are available in the free RECAP Archive?

CourtListener's RECAP Archive contains 65,180 dockets for N.D. Fla., representing 56.26% of FJC IDB-counted cases in this district. RECAP is operated by the Free Law Project; see free.law for attribution and how to contribute.