Bankruptcy Attorney Fees by State

Chapter 7, Chapter 13, Chapter 11, debt negotiation and discharge. Fee ranges below are based on Bureau of Labor Statistics 2024 wage data for lawyers (SOC 23-1011), adjusted by practice area market data.

$1,000-$2,500
Chapter 7 consumer filing band
$5,000
Chapter 13 ceiling
$50/hr
Ch.11 / complex hourly median

Bankruptcy filing paths (Chapter 7 vs Chapter 13)

Flat fees standard for Chapter 7; hourly for Chapter 11. Consumer bankruptcy surveys publish two discrete filing-path flats; Chapter 11 and other reorganization work leave the flat schedule for hourly billing near the $50/hr BLS median (multiplier 0.70x). No retainer band is published for this area in the survey set used here.

Liquidation path
Chapter 7
$1,000-$2,500
Most common consumer flat band
Repayment path
Chapter 13
$2,500-$5,000
Reorganization flat · 5.0x above Ch.7 floor
  • Filing scope: Chapter 7
  • Filing scope: Chapter 13
  • Filing scope: Chapter 11
  • Filing scope: debt negotiation and discharge

Chapter 7 flat fee (most common); Chapter 13 reorganization

Bankruptcy chapter filing ceilings (national)

Chapter paths · published flat highs · 5.0x span Ch.7 floor → Ch.13 ceiling

$

What this shows Chapter13 sets the bankruptcy flat ceiling at $5,000; Chapter 11 and complex reorganization leave this schedule for hourly work.

Source ABA fee surveys + BLS OES lawyer wages As of 2024 data

Bankruptcy wage-index anchors (filing-path hubs)

Highest and lowest BLS-adjusted medians for bankruptcy counsel. Chapter flats above stay national; each state hub scales Chapter 7 / Chapter 13 quotes by that jurisdiction's lawyer wage index.

Highest medians

  1. Washington D.C. $71/hr
  2. New York $62/hr
  3. California $59/hr
  4. New Jersey $56/hr
  5. Massachusetts $55/hr
  6. Maryland $53/hr
  7. Washington $53/hr
  8. Connecticut $52/hr

Lowest medians

  1. Mississippi $35/hr
  2. West Virginia $36/hr
  3. Arkansas $36/hr
  4. Wyoming $39/hr
  5. South Dakota $39/hr
  6. Kentucky $39/hr
  7. Alabama $39/hr
  8. South Carolina $40/hr

All 51 jurisdictions publish a bankruptcy filing-path page under /fees/bankruptcy/<state>.

Adjacent consumer-finance fee hubs

Bankruptcy fee figures use BLS OES 2024 (SOC 23-1011) plus ABA fee-survey matter norms. Estimates only, not quotes or legal advice. Source: BLS OES Lawyers (SOC 23-1011) Matter norms: ABA Law Practice Division publications; see methodology.