Practice area
Data coverage · Q3 goalA countercyclical
practice with
a cyclical playbook.
Bankruptcy filings surge when everything else slows down. The firms that own the next cycle are the ones investing now, while volume is low. We're building the dataset that tells you where filings are trending and who's already positioning.
US market
$4B
Data coverage
Shipping 2027
$4B
US bankruptcy legal services
15,000+
Bankruptcy attorneys
500K/yr
Consumer filings (baseline)
90 districts
US bankruptcy courts
The market
Consumer volume.
Business reputation.
Cyclical everything.
Consumer bankruptcy (Ch 7 and 13) is a volume business: high-intent PPC, debt-relief content, free consultations, and installment fee structures. Business bankruptcy (Ch 11 and subchapter V) is a reputation business: turnaround networks, banker relationships, and the kind of trust that gets a phone call at the worst moment of a company's life.
Filing volume moves with credit-card delinquencies, unemployment, and student-loan-relief cycles. The firms that build marketing infrastructure during the quiet years dominate the loud ones.
What makes it different
Consumer filers research for 6-18 months before filing. They comparison shop. They read reviews. Presence during that window is the whole game.
Ch 7/13 is volume + debt-relief branding. Ch 11 is workout networks + senior-banker trust. Same bar card, nothing else in common.
Filing volumes swing 2-3x across cycles. 2005 pre-BAPCPA peak, 2010 recession peak, 2020-2021 trough. Countercyclical planning is table stakes, most firms don't do it.
Consumer filers can't pay upfront. The firms with the best $0-down structures, clear installment plans, and trust-based intake convert disproportionately.
Where the money goes
$350M a year,
front-loaded
before the next cycle.
Consumer bankruptcy is PPC + SEO + content, tight paid economics built around researched-by-users, delayed-conversion intent. Business bankruptcy is speaking circuits, banker relationships, and ABI / TMA networks.
2026 Bankruptcy channel mix · industry estimate
Sources: US Courts · ABI · Firmatics industry estimates. Firm-level coverage shipping 2027.
Business bankruptcy firm
$250K–1.5M
Ch 11 and subchapter V practice. TMA / ABI / turnaround banker relationships, speaking circuit, thought leadership. Spend is mostly relationship infrastructure.
Volume consumer firm
$200K–2M
1,000+ Ch 7/13 filings per year. Ruthless PPC economics, dedicated SEO content engine, call-center intake, $0-down fee structures.
Solo / small firm
$10K–75K
Most bankruptcy firms. Local PPC, credit-counselor relationships, prior-client referrals. Volume is the lever; marketing sophistication is modest.
What bankruptcy firms face
The problems specific
to bankruptcy.
You don't know where the next cycle starts.
Filing volume swings 2-3x across cycles. Most firms cut marketing when volume's low and chase it when volume's high, the opposite of what works. No one has district-level leading-indicator data.
Consumer filers research for a year.
Your PPC click today converts 8 months from now, if at all. Attribution is a nightmare. Most firms can't tell which marketing dollars are actually working because the gap between spend and filing is enormous.
Debt-relief companies are eating your top-of-funnel.
National debt-settlement and credit-counseling companies outspend local bankruptcy firms 50:1 on high-intent keywords. They convert filers into settlement programs first. You get the ones they couldn't fix.
Ch 7 vs. Ch 13 vs. Ch 11 needs three websites.
Consumer filers in financial distress respond to completely different messaging than small-business owners facing liquidation or turnaround. Most firms run one site for all three and convert none of them well.
Your fee structure is your marketing.
Consumer filers can't pay $1,500 upfront. $0-down structures convert dramatically better. Most firms haven't systematized, pricing ends up as whatever the consultation attorney decides, which bleeds conversion at intake.
Business bankruptcy is invisible without a banker.
Ch 11 and subchapter V work comes from workout bankers, TMA members, special-situation lenders, and CRO professionals. If you're not in those rooms with named relationships, you're not getting the call.
Data layer · Bankruptcy
The dataset
we're building.
FIRM PROFILES
202715,000+ bankruptcy firms
Every bankruptcy-active firm profiled with practice mix (Ch 7, 13, 11, subchapter V), filing-volume data, fee-structure detail, and Marketing Firm Score.
PACER INTEL
2027District-level filing data
Public PACER filing records resolved to firm, who filed what chapters, in what districts, at what volume, with trailing-twelve trend.
CYCLE INDICATORS
2027Filing-volume leading indicators
Credit-card delinquency, unemployment, eviction, and student-loan-relief data cross-referenced against filing trajectories by district.
PPC INTEL
2027Debt-relief keyword landscape
PPC spend and ad-copy intel by firm and by national debt-relief competitor. See who's actually converting on what terms.
REFERRAL GRAPH
2027Counselor + banker network
Credit counselor advisorys, CPA relationships, TMA / ABI membership, workout-banker co-appearances. The full referral ecology for consumer + business.
VENDOR INDEX
2027Bankruptcy-firm vendor directory
Case management software, PACER integrations, means-test tools, debt-relief CRM, consumer-bankruptcy LSA agencies. Verified pricing and reviews.
The last cycle made me. The firms who invested in 2007 owned 2010. I've been waiting fifteen years for the next one and nobody will tell me when it's coming, so I'm flying blind on my biggest capital decision.
In practice
How bankruptcy firms
will use it.
Time your countercyclical spend
See district-level filing trajectory and leading indicators. Invest 12 months ahead of the next volume spike.
Audit your PACER position
Know exactly how many filings you did vs. competitors in your district, by chapter, across the last three years.
Split consumer from business
Build separate marketing motions and sites for Ch 7/13 vs. Ch 11/subchapter V, with benchmarks for both.
Defend against debt-relief
See exactly what national debt-settlement and credit-counseling companies spend on your keywords, and where the defensible positioning is.
Systematize fee structure
Benchmark $0-down and installment structures against top-converting competitors. Turn intake pricing into a system.
Map counselor + CPA network
See which credit counselors and CPAs refer into which competitors, and the gaps in your own pre-filing referral pipeline.
Break into Ch 11
See what TMA / ABI / banker-network investments top Ch 11 firms make. Know what the real entry cost to business bankruptcy looks like.
Recruit filing talent
The directory filters by PACER filing volume, chapter mix, and district experience, not just LinkedIn keywords.
Evaluate acquisition targets
Bankruptcy firms trade on PACER volume, counselor relationships, and fee infrastructure. See the real book before bidding.
Bankruptcy by firm size
Different stages.
Different playbooks.
1–5 LAWYERS
Solo & Boutique
Local PPC, credit-counselor relationships, prior-client retention.
Explore →
6–20 LAWYERS
Growing
Consumer volume engine, systematic $0-down structure, SEO compound.
Explore →
20–50 LAWYERS
Scale
Multi-office consumer practice, business-bankruptcy vertical, TMA membership.
Explore →
50+ LAWYERS
Enterprise / PE
National debt-relief platform, restructuring practice, cross-district filings.
Explore →
How to engage
Start with Community.
RECOMMENDED
Community
$2,000/mo · no lock-in
Monthly strategy session with a senior legal marketing operator, bankruptcy operator peers, cycle-timing playbooks, early access to the dataset.
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Market Intelligence
Custom · invite-only
Bankruptcy dataset launches 2027. Reserve a seat for early access.
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Strategic Advisory
Custom · waitlist
Bankruptcy-specialized advisor joins the bench as engagements open.
Join waitlist
FAQ
Common questions about bankruptcy.
Do you cover business bankruptcy as well as consumer?
Where do your filing-volume trajectories come from?
When does data coverage ship?
What is a Marketing Firm Score?
Early access
Be first when it ships.
Bankruptcy coverage ships 2027. Early-access firms shape roadmap, get the dataset before public release, and receive a pre-publication State of Bankruptcy report.