First Circuit · New Hampshire

United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Hampshire

United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Hampshire has processed 94,073 federal bankruptcy filings in the Federal Judicial Center Integrated Database, ranking 75th of 94 US bankruptcy districts by total case volume, with Chapter 7 accounting for 61.71% of classified filings.

Data updated . Methodology & sources.
94,073Total cases (FJC IDB)
1,449FY 2025 filings
37.07%Chapter 13 share
61.71%Chapter 7 share
19.19%Prior-filer rate (Ch 13)
0.0%RECAP coverage

National rank: 75th of 94 by total case volume (21th percentile). See all rankings below.

Section 01Filing Volume

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

FY2010: 12,281 filingsFY2011: 10,021 filingsFY2012: 8,108 filingsFY2013: 6,358 filingsFY2014: 5,034 filingsFY2015: 4,390 filingsFY2016: 3,685 filingsFY2017: 3,765 filingsFY2018: 3,686 filingsFY2019: 3,746 filingsFY2020: 2,368 filingsFY2021: 1,400 filingsFY2022: 1,340 filingsFY2023: 1,322 filingsFY2024: 1,434 filingsFY2025: 1,449 filingsFY2026: 223 filings (incomplete — current FY)20102012201420162018202020222024202612,2810

Section 02Chapter Mix

Distribution of cases filed in D.N.H. by bankruptcy chapter. Computed over the 94,073 cases with a non-blank chapter code in the FJC IDB.

Chapter 7: 58,057 cases (61.7%)Ch 7 61.7%Chapter 13: 34,876 cases (37.1%)Ch 13 37.1%Chapter 11: 1,079 cases (1.1%)Chapter 12: 54 cases (0.1%)
Chapter 7 — Liquidation (61.7%, 58,057 cases) Chapter 13 — Wage-earner plan (37.1%, 34,876 cases) Chapter 11 — Reorganization (1.1%, 1,079 cases) Chapter 12 — Family farmer / fisherman (0.1%, 54 cases)
ChapterPurposeCasesShare
Chapter 7Liquidation58,05761.71%
Chapter 13Wage-earner plan34,87637.07%
Chapter 11Reorganization1,0791.15%
Chapter 12Family farmer / fisherman540.06%

Section 03Case Dispositions

Of cases filed in D.N.H. from FY 2005 onward, 46,610 have a terminal disposition recorded in the FJC Integrated Database (49.8% of 93,624 in-window cases). 47,014 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: 39,398 (84.5%)84.5%Dismissed: 4,790 (10.3%)10.3%Converted to another chapter: 2,267 (4.9%)Other disposition: 147 (0.3%)
Discharged (84.5%, 39,398 cases) Dismissed (10.3%, 4,790 cases) Converted to another chapter (4.9%, 2,267 cases) Other disposition (0.3%, 147 cases)
OutcomeCasesShare of classified
Discharged39,39884.53%
Dismissed4,79010.28%
Converted to another chapter2,2674.86%
Other disposition1470.32%

Section 04Prior-Filer Rate (Chapter 13)

Of Chapter 13 cases in D.N.H. with a coded prior-filing flag in the FJC IDB, 19.19% (6,492 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: 78th of 94 (18th percentile).

Classified subset: 33,828 of 34,876 Chapter 13 cases. How this is computed.

Section 05Pro Se Filing Rate

Of classified D.N.H. filings, 4.16% (3,839 cases) were filed without an attorney of record.

National rank on pro se rate: 35th of 94 (64th percentile).

Classified subset: 92,229 of 94,073 cases. How this is computed.

Section 06National Rank

How D.N.H. 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 75 of 94 (21th percentile)
Chapter 13 volume
Rank 73 of 94 (23th percentile)
Prior-filer rate (Ch 13)
Rank 78 of 94 (18th percentile)
Pro se rate
Rank 35 of 94 (64th percentile)

Section 07Peer Districts

Three districts in the First Circuit closest in total case volume to D.N.H..

Section 08Sitting Judges

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

RoleName
Chief JudgeKimberly Bacher

Section 09Courthouse & Divisions

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

United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Hampshire
55 Pleasant Street, Room 200, Concord, NH 03301

Court website ↗

Section 10Privacy 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 11RECAP Coverage

Of the 94,073 cases recorded for D.N.H. 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 12Frequently Asked Questions

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

According to the Federal Judicial Center Integrated Database, 94,073 cases have been filed in United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Hampshire. D.N.H. ranks 75 of 94 US bankruptcy districts by total filing volume (21th percentile).

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

Of classified filings in D.N.H.: Chapter 13 accounts for 37.07% (34,876 cases), Chapter 7 for 61.71% (58,057 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.N.H.?

Of 46,610 cases with recorded outcomes (filed FY 2005 onward), 84.53% ended in discharge and 10.28% 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.N.H.?

Of Chapter 13 cases in D.N.H. with prior-filing flags coded, 19.19% 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.N.H. are filed pro se?

Of D.N.H. filings with representation status coded, 4.16% were filed without an attorney of record.

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

CourtListener's RECAP Archive contains 0 dockets for D.N.H., 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.