Bankruptcy filings in the federal courts remained high in calendar year 2003, according to data released today by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Total bankruptcies filed in the twelve-month period ending December 31, 2003, totaled 1,660,245, up 5.2 percent from the 1,577,651 bankruptcies filed in the prior year. The majority of bankruptcy filings are non-business filings, 1,625,208 in 2003 as compare to 1,539,111 in 2002. The number of business bankruptcy filings continued to decline, totaling 35,037 in 2003 as compared to 38,540 in 2002. Chapter 11 reorganization filings — the most important bankruptcy statistic in terms of job preservation — fell 16.6 percent to 9,404 in 2003 from the 11,270 filings in calendar year 2002. Thanks to my friend Joe Epstein for advising me of the publication of this annual report.