15 March 2004. Maureen Drews, a senior paralegal at Holland & Knight's Chicago office, and Paul Bush, founder of Legal Dockets Online, respond to last week's question about locating a
bankruptcy filing.

Question: How can I find out if a company filed for bankruptcy? I'm trying to confirm that Leather Loft filed for bankruptcy a few years ago. I've checked Factiva and LexisNexis, but I can't find anything.

Maureen: One way to locate the bankruptcy of a company is to determine the state of organization or principal place of business, and then search the bankruptcy records for that jurisdiction using the Pacer system (subscription required). I quickly searched and found that Leather Loft is a New Hampshire corporation. I connected with the Pacer site for the New Hampshire bankruptcy court and found 4 filings. I did not retrieve them because doing so would incur a charge. As I understand it, you can now get immediate access to Pacer once you subscribe, whereas there once was a delay in processing subscription requests.

Another way to accomplish this is to search a commercial database of bankruptcies in
the U.S., such as those available on Westlaw, Lexis, Accurint, KnowX or Choice Point. But that can get pretty pricey. Getting more details about the research up front can reduce your search
range and costs!

Maureen A. Drews, Senior Paralegal
HOLLAND & KNIGHT LLP

Paul: Fastest, cheapest solution: Search the PACER U.S. Party/Case Index and click on the link for the appropriate case. Leather Loft Stores, Inc. filed for bankruptcy in New Hampshire on 8 February 2002 (case number 02-10394-JMD).

Also, some quick free searches for bankruptcies:

• BankruptcyData.com

• The Trumbull Group

• Bankruptcy Services LLC

Paul Bush
Legal Dockets Online