Ninth Circuit · Guam

United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Guam

United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Guam has processed 4,593 federal bankruptcy filings in the Federal Judicial Center Integrated Database, ranking 92nd of 94 US bankruptcy districts by total case volume, with Chapter 7 accounting for 57.76% of classified filings.

Data updated . Methodology & sources.
4,593Total cases (FJC IDB)
38FY 2025 filings
41.13%Chapter 13 share
57.76%Chapter 7 share
9.95%Prior-filer rate (Ch 13)
0.0%RECAP coverage

National rank: 92nd of 94 by total case volume (3th percentile). See all rankings below.

Section 01Filing Volume

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

FY2010: 419 filingsFY2011: 314 filingsFY2012: 350 filingsFY2013: 306 filingsFY2014: 311 filingsFY2015: 292 filingsFY2016: 287 filingsFY2017: 359 filingsFY2018: 232 filingsFY2019: 323 filingsFY2020: 163 filingsFY2021: 108 filingsFY2022: 78 filingsFY2023: 43 filingsFY2024: 36 filingsFY2025: 38 filingsFY2026: 10 filings (incomplete — current FY)2010201220142016201820202022202420264190

Section 02Chapter Mix

Distribution of cases filed in D. Guam by bankruptcy chapter. Computed over the 4,593 cases with a non-blank chapter code in the FJC IDB.

Chapter 7: 2,653 cases (57.8%)Ch 7 57.8%Chapter 13: 1,889 cases (41.1%)Ch 13 41.1%Chapter 11: 48 cases (1.1%)Chapter 15: 3 cases (0.1%)
Chapter 7 — Liquidation (57.8%, 2,653 cases) Chapter 13 — Wage-earner plan (41.1%, 1,889 cases) Chapter 11 — Reorganization (1.1%, 48 cases) Chapter 15 — Cross-border / ancillary (0.1%, 3 cases)
ChapterPurposeCasesShare
Chapter 7Liquidation2,65357.76%
Chapter 13Wage-earner plan1,88941.13%
Chapter 11Reorganization481.05%
Chapter 15Cross-border / ancillary30.07%

Section 03Case Dispositions

Of cases filed in D. Guam from FY 2005 onward, 2,196 have a terminal disposition recorded in the FJC Integrated Database (48.8% of 4,496 in-window cases). 2,300 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: 1,937 (88.2%)88.2%Dismissed: 171 (7.8%)7.8%Converted to another chapter: 79 (3.6%)Other disposition: 8 (0.4%)
Discharged (88.2%, 1,937 cases) Dismissed (7.8%, 171 cases) Converted to another chapter (3.6%, 79 cases) Other disposition (0.4%, 8 cases)
OutcomeCasesShare of classified
Discharged1,93788.21%
Dismissed1717.79%
Converted to another chapter793.6%
Other disposition80.36%

Section 04Prior-Filer Rate (Chapter 13)

Of Chapter 13 cases in D. Guam with a coded prior-filing flag in the FJC IDB, 9.95% (180 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: 93rd of 94 (2th percentile).

Classified subset: 1,809 of 1,889 Chapter 13 cases. How this is computed.

Section 05Pro Se Filing Rate

Of classified D. Guam filings, 1.44% (66 cases) were filed without an attorney of record.

National rank on pro se rate: 77th of 94 (19th percentile).

Classified subset: 4,590 of 4,593 cases. How this is computed.

Section 06National Rank

How D. Guam 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 92 of 94 (3th percentile)
Chapter 13 volume
Rank 92 of 94 (3th percentile)
Prior-filer rate (Ch 13)
Rank 93 of 94 (2th percentile)
Pro se rate
Rank 77 of 94 (19th percentile)

Section 07Peer Districts

Three districts in the Ninth Circuit closest in total case volume to D. Guam.

Section 08Privacy 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 09RECAP Coverage

Of the 4,593 cases recorded for D. Guam in the FJC IDB, 0 dockets (0.0%) 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 10Frequently Asked Questions

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

According to the Federal Judicial Center Integrated Database, 4,593 cases have been filed in United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Guam. D. Guam ranks 92 of 94 US bankruptcy districts by total filing volume (3th percentile).

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

Of classified filings in D. Guam: Chapter 13 accounts for 41.13% (1,889 cases), Chapter 7 for 57.76% (2,653 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 D. Guam?

Of 2,196 cases with recorded outcomes (filed FY 2005 onward), 88.21% ended in discharge and 7.79% 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 D. Guam?

Of Chapter 13 cases in D. Guam with prior-filing flags coded, 9.95% 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 D. Guam are filed pro se?

Of D. Guam filings with representation status coded, 1.44% were filed without an attorney of record.

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

CourtListener's RECAP Archive contains 0 dockets for D. Guam, representing 0.0% 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.