Bankruptcy court clerks around the United States fear that the federal judiciary will cut their staffs in response to the drop in bankruptcy filings, a move they say would be rash because fewer filings haven’t meant less work for courts, the Associated Press reported yesterday. Bankruptcy filings hit an all-time low in 2006, a drop spurred by the new filing requirements of BAPCPA. Filings plummeted in the final months of 2005 and into 2006, but have rebounded in recent months. Clerks say justifying staff cuts based on the number of filings would be a mistake because the requirements under the new law have increased their work on each case. Courts are juggling more paperwork per case - from motions to judges’ orders - than ever before. “It’s a pretty phenomenal change in workload,” said Barry Lander, clerk for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in San Diego. “You expected fewer hearings and hearing orders because you had fewer cases. That’s not turning out to be the case.” According to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, which collected statistics from 10 bankruptcy courts, overall filings were down 52 percent in the three-month period ended Dec. 31, 2006, compared with the same period in 2004. However motions filed per case were up 59 percent, orders filed per case jumped 35 percent and notices per case sent out by the judiciary’s Bankruptcy Noticing Center rose by 41 percent.