A Note From the Team ✍️

Our Spring Release is finally here! The Spring 2023 Release is now available! As a continuously expanding company, we are always updating our software to better meet the needs of your firm. We are excited to announce updates, enhancements, and more in our 2023 Spring Release! Additionally, we are excited to announce an upcoming integration with Student Loan Toolbox and a new product: NextChapter Immigration. We will be going over all features and updates in our Spring Release Webinar Mon, May 1, 2023 2:00 PM EDT.

Don't forget to register for upcoming webinars!

• Part 1: NextChapter Custom CRM Tool, Tues, Apr 25, 2:30 PM EDT

• Part 2 Using the automated features included for all Areas of Law, Tues, May 2, 1:00 PM EDT

• MyChapter Client Portal, Tues, May 9, 2:00 PM EDT

• Chapter 13 Package, Weds, May 24, 3:00 PM EDT

General Updates 🌟

Paid Feature Updates:

• PACER Notices Dashboard - Option to “Select All” and assign multiple notices at a time to a case

Chapter 13 Plans:

• Southern District of Texas - Revised Plan

• Northern District of California - Revised Plan

• Central District of Illinois - Revised Plan

General Updates:

• New Credit Report API

  • Ability for users to correct and re-pull reports on their own

  • Ability to add a debtor to a report

  • Ability for users to pull an updated report on their own 

More local forms

• Central District of California - Debtor’s Request to Activate Electronic Noticing

• Utah - Domestic Support List of Creditors (Matrix)

• Southern District of California - Rights & Responsibilities of Ch 7 Debtors and their Attorney

• New Hampshire - Verification of Creditor Mailing List

• Colorado - Notice of Chapter 13 Fee

• Eastern District of Kentucky - Order Directing Employer to Make Wage Deductions for Remittance to Chapter 13 Trustee

• Western District of Michigan - Asset Protection Report

ECF Post-Petition Options

• Eastern District of Kentucky

• Middle District of Georgia

• Southern District of Texas

• Northern District of Oklahoma (Coming Soon!)

ECF - New Event Codes

• Eastern District of Washington - Chapter 13 Events Codes

• Utah - Domestic Support List of Creditors (Matrix)

• Middle District of Louisianna - New General Event Codes

• Northern District of Ohio - Legal Description Event Code

• Southern District of Illinois - General Event Codes

NextChapter Docs Updates 🖥

NextChapter Docs is a document automation software for all areas of law. It provides users with the ability to manage client data, create and store legal documents, and automate document generation. With NextChapter Docs, users can streamline their workflow and save time on administrative tasks, allowing them to focus on providing legal services to their clients. The software is constantly updated with new features and capabilities to meet the evolving needs of legal professionals.

At NextChapter, we are always working to improve our software, so you have the ability to run your firm as efficiently as possible. Here are our most recent updates and new features:

NextChapter Docs Updates:

• Improved Table Formatting in Word Exports
• Spacing and Tabbing Fixed in Word Exports
• Text Formatting Bugs Fixed in Word Exports
• Pronoun and Plural Tag Bug Fixes
• Better Firm Template List Organization and Search Options

NextChapter Docs New Features

• Document List Search - the ability to search from all firm templates

• Documents are shown in numerical and alphabetical order in the Case Doc dropdown 

  • Non-Bankruptcy

  • Original

• Blank Line Update - Option to adjust the size of the line for the blank line feature

• Ruler guide

• Save Option Name Separate from Merge Text

• Save Option Names as New Merge Tags  

• Multiple entity option - the ability to add up to 10 entities

• Tags for Each Option - the ability to add a nested question asked among all the multiple entities

NextChapter Immigration Coming Soon ✈️

We have been working hard to expand our managing and filing capabilities to areas beyond bankruptcy. And we are excited to announce that NextChapter Immigration is coming soon! This 100% cloud-based software is designed to automate your workflow to better help your firm prepare, manage, and file cases online! We are starting this venture with green card law and will soon after expand to more areas of immigration. Immigration attorneys will have the ability to follow guided forms and file immigration forms online, changing the game for immigration law nationwide! Want to be a beta tester or early access user? Sign up here!

Student Loan Toolbox Integration Coming Soon 🎉

Big things are happening at NextChapter! We kicked off this upcoming partnership in February with a Bankruptcy and Student Loan Toolbox Symposium - going over the ins and outs of how student loans relate to bankruptcy law and how it can affect filing. Click here following links to see the playback of each session:
 

• Student Loan Basics Recorded Session: Learn the Alphabet soup of student loan acronyms and what they mean for your client. Payment plans, default issues, players and their roles. It’s a quick over view of the student loan landscape.
• IDR Account Adjustment Recorded Session: Learn about the IDR Account Adjustment and how it can speed up forgiveness for Federal student loan borrowers.
• Navigating the Attestation Form Recorded Session: 

  SLTB & NC will walk you through the steps to complete the Attestation form and where information can easily be found from a client bankruptcy case in NextChapter.

• Fresh Start for Federal Student Loans Recorded Session: A unique once in a lifetime offer from the Department of Education can get defaulted Federal loans fixed with a 5-minute phone call. Get Federal loans back on track quickly.

Industry News 🗞

Q1 Bankruptcy Filings Grow in Opening Months of 2023
Article By: David Nayer

View Law Street Media article here!

In contrast to the overall trend for 2022, the first few months of 2023 show a year-over-year increase in bankruptcy filings, according to Docket Alarm data.

Across all chapters of the bankruptcy code, the first quarter of the year saw 106,680 bankruptcy filings, up from 92,421 filings in 2022, an increase of over 15%.

 

Bankruptcy filings have been down, year-over-year, throughout most of the COVID-19 era. That trend, potentially driven by social safety measures like stimulus checks and the Paycheck Protection Program, showed signs of reversal in the summer of 2022. The 15% increase could indicate effects of widely-reported inflation and an economic climate colored by layoffs at high-profile companies like Meta  and Amazon 

View image data here: https://www.datawrapper.de/_/DFGwD/

The increase in bankruptcy filings is, largely, a nationwide trend. The Eastern District of Missouri, encompassing Kansas City, saw a 33% decline in bankruptcy filings. Maine and Western New York also saw double-digit decreases in year-over year quarterly filings, Many areas, like Colorado and the Northern District of California, saw single-digit decreases.

Hardest hit by the percentage increases from last year are districts in the Deep South and Appalachia, especially the Southern District of West Virginia as well as the Southern District of Texas, covering Houston.

NACBA 2023 👋

We are excited to see you at NACBA '23! Don’t miss our panel NextChapter: Automate your Firm on Thursday at 5:30 PM ET where we will be going over our tools and features that streamline and simplify the filing process as well as utilize our software for all areas of law! You can also visit us at booth 4 for a live demo and cookies! While you're there, brush up on your US history knowledge because we have a trivia game for you - and don’t forget to enter our daily raffle!