Obama signs bankruptcy judge extension law

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President Barack Obama has signed into law a measure that extends for five more years 29 federal bankruptcy judgeships that were set to expire.

The Temporary Bankruptcy Judgeships Extension Act of 2012, Pub. L. No. 112-121, temporarily saves dozens of bankruptcy judgeships in 14 states and Puerto Rico from expiring.

The law creates a temporary exception to technical federal rules that limit the ability to fill certain bankruptcy judgeship vacancies, leaving some seats to stand vacant after bankruptcy judges’ terms expire or judges retire.

Congress has repeatedly passed temporary measures to allow those vacancies to be filled in order to keep the federal bankruptcy court benches fully staffed and stave off filing backlogs. The judgeships at issue in the latest extension were created or extended in 2005.

The measure comes at a time when bankruptcy filings are declining, but are still much higher than they were just four years ago, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

More than 1.3 million bankruptcies were filled during the 12-month period ending March 31, 2012, according to the office. The figure is more than 400,000 greater than the number of filings during the same period in 2008.