Sponsors (2)
The bill prioritizes clearer, more local venue rules and reduced forum-shopping—improving local access and predictability—at the cost of higher costs, potential delays, and disruption as large cases are moved into potentially less-resourced local courts and away from established bankruptcy hubs.
Debtors, creditors, and local stakeholders (small businesses, employees, local creditors, retirees) will face clearer, more predictable venue rules and less forum-shopping because venue is tied to a 180-day lookback and public SEC filings, making it easier to know where cases belong.
Local creditors, small businesses, employees, and communities are more likely to participate and see cases decided in courts familiar with local facts, which can improve perceived fairness and ensure local interests are represented.
Courts and parties get faster resolution of venue disputes because courts must decide venue objections or transfer requests within 14 days, reducing procedural delay and speeding case administration.
Debtor companies, their creditors, employees, and taxpayers may face higher administrative and legal costs and longer delays if venue restrictions force filings into less-centralized or resource-constrained home districts.
Smaller local district courts could be overwhelmed by large, complex Chapter 11 cases concentrated in debtors' home districts, straining judicial resources and slowing resolutions for all parties.
National creditors, financial institutions, and parties that rely on experienced judges in major bankruptcy hubs may face forum disadvantages, uncertainty, and increased litigation risk when venue is limited.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Narrows and tightens Chapter 11 venue rules: 180-day lookback, SEC-report based principal place presumption, one-year anti-manipulation bar, burden on filer, and 14-day venue decision deadline.
Rewrites federal bankruptcy venue rules for chapter 11 cases to limit forum shopping and concentrate cases where the debtor actually did business or had assets in the U.S. It narrows where debtors can file by adopting a 180-day lookback to determine the district with the most significant ties, defines “principal place of business” for certain public companies using their SEC annual report address (subject to rebuttal), bans venue-establishing moves within one year of filing, shifts the burden of proving venue to the filer, and requires speedy judicial rulings on venue objections or transfer requests. The bill also directs courts to transfer or dismiss cases filed in improper districts, allows transfer in the interest of justice or convenience, and directs the Supreme Court to permit government attorneys to appear in bankruptcy matters without local admission or counsel requirements. The changes are procedural but substantive in effect and aim to reduce concentration of large Chapter 11 cases in a few districts and make venue contests quicker and harder to manipulate.
Official title: To amend title 28, United States Code, to modify venue requirements relating to bankruptcy proceedings.
Introduced March 26, 2026 by Zoe Lofgren · Last progress March 26, 2026