A record number of businesses filed for bankruptcy in the Dallas-Fort Worth area during the first half of 2025, according to The Texas Lawbook. Haynes Boone Restructuring Partner Charles A. Beckham, Jr. spoke with the publication about the industry’s current trends across the state and why the number of filings is increasing in some areas but decreasing in others.
Read an excerpt below:
Texas Lawbook: What have the Northern District of Texas bankruptcy judges done specifically to make NDTX a more attractive venue for businesses seeking to restructure?
Charles Beckham: This question is easy. Three of the five bankruptcy judges in Dallas/Fort Worth are my former Haynes Boone law partners. In the past, when I had a difficult bankruptcy problem to solve, I always went to them for guidance and good judgment. I think the national bankruptcy bar has discovered something I knew for years: A wise and consistent bench attracts cases. Additionally, the Northern District of Texas recently updated their local rules to make the rules more user-friendly to debtors who are entering Chapter 11 in crisis.
Lawbook: Many experts predicted a slew of commercial real estate property bankruptcies over the past two years, but we never saw that blitz. What do you think happened?
Beckham: The financings for many large real estate properties were to single-purpose vehicles that owned one property with no recourse to a solvent parent. If a project went bad and could not be saved, the project sponsor often tossed the keys back to the lenders and said, “Not my problem!” leaving the lenders with empty properties. Problem loans happened, but borrowers recognized that bankruptcy would not be a good solution.
Read the full Q&A with The Texas Lawbook here.
Read The Texas Lawbook article on the current trends in DFW here.
