This article originally appeared as a Gavel to Gavel guest column in the Journal Record on November 26, 2025.
By Phillips Murrrah Director Clayton D. Ketter
Clayton D. Ketter
Businesses across Oklahoma continue to feel financial pressure as rising input costs, higher interest rates, and stagnant selling prices have led to thin margins and declining profits. While recent data indicates that inflation may be slowing and interest rates have started to creep down, businesses are still navigating a difficult economic landscape. The sustained economic squeeze has forced many businesses in Oklahoma to seek bankruptcy relief.
Data compiled by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts shows Oklahoma’s three federal bankruptcy districts recorded 247 business bankruptcy filings in the twelve-month period ending June 30, 2025, constituting an 18 percent increase over the same period in 2024, and a 43 percent increase over the same period in 2023. For the year ending June 30, 2025, the vast majority of Oklahoma businesses filing bankruptcy did so as Chapter 7 liquidations, which typically results in the business ceasing operations. Only 26 of the businesses filing bankruptcy in Oklahoma during that period did so as reorganizations under Chapter 11 or Chapter 13.
Oklahoma’s increase in business bankruptcy filings has outpaced the national trend. Nationally, business filings from the year ending June 30, 2025 rose approximately 4.5 percent from the prior year. The larger increase in Oklahoma as compared to the national trend is likely due to a number of factors, including Oklahoma’s economy having outsized exposure to energy, manufacturing, and agriculture, which are sectors that have been hit particularly hard. Further, Oklahoma’s economy has fared comparatively well over the past several years, lagging behind the nation in bankruptcy filing increases. Currently, Oklahoma’s business filings are still below the national average on a per capita basis.
While the uptick in bankruptcy filings may be useful for assessing the broader state of the local economy, such numbers are not necessarily cause for panic. Bankruptcy filings do not always indicate financial collapse. Many bankruptcy filings are done for strategic reasons, as bankruptcy can be an effective tool to give a business time to address financial strain or protect assets. A well-planned bankruptcy doesn’t always mean a business is closing. In many cases, it means the opposite, they are trying to survive. Even Chapter 7 liquidations can be effective tools to shield affiliates from potential financial exposure. Accordingly, although risking bankruptcy numbers show strain for Oklahoma’s economy, they also reflect companies taking proactive steps to address distress.
About the author:
Clayton D. Ketter is a Director and the Firm’s Litigation Practice Group Leader. Clay represents individuals and companies in a wide range of commercial matters with an emphasis on financial restructuring for a variety of industries.
CONTACT: cdketter@phillipsmurrah.com | 405.606.4792
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