Pacific Gas & Electric Co. recently sought bankruptcy protection in the face of more than $30 billion in potential liability from the wildfires that have ravaged California.

One immediate effect the company’s Chapter 11 filing had was the halting of thousands of lawsuits and other claims for compensation pending against PG&E lodged by a wide array of victims. In bankruptcy parlance, the pause is known as an “automatic stay,” and it also extends to pending and future litigation filed against a debtor while the bankruptcy process is ongoing. But for lawyers dismayed by the utility’s bankruptcy filing or facing their own instances where a defendant has become a debtor amid litigation, there are ways to prevent an automatic stay from derailing your clients’ civil cases for years.