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THE NEXT CHAPTER - Evan Miller, a director at Bayard in Wilmington, Delaware, who specializes in corporate bankruptcy, said the early days of the pandemic resulted in “hands-down the busiest stretch” his career. But, as Law.com’s Ellen Bardash reports, that may have just been a warm-up: with the country opening up and an end to COVID-19 in sight, Miller predicts another uptick of Chapter 11 filings is likely in the upcoming months. The X factor in all this, according to Miller, is whether more pandemic aid will be coming from the government as we head further into the year. “That’s an unknown, and it’s probably the biggest variable in all of this,”  he said. “Certainly, if companies have the option to utilize relatively ‘cheap’ funding from the government, then that will help prolong their ability to avoid having to rely upon bankruptcy. Will that happen again? Is there anything else to come, as far as that goes? That’s a trickle-down effect, from both the company’s standpoint as well as the lenders’ that would be lending to those companies, as well.”