Delaware’s bankruptcy caseload is the highest in the nation, leading U.S. District Chief Judge Joseph J. Farnan Jr. to predict last week that the Congress is likely to authorize a third judge for the overburdened federal Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington.
Bankruptcy Judges Peter J. Walsh and Mary F. Walrath each were assigned 3,259 filings in 1998 — surpassing every other jurisdiction from Maryland with 3,024 cases per judge down to Alaska with a mere 254 cases per judge. The cases are “weighted filings” — meaning they are adjusted by formula to account for complexity.
