Citing a potential “debilitating workload crisis,” the policymaking body for federal courts asked Congress this week to authorize new bankruptcy judgeships in Delaware, Florida and elsewhere.

The U.S. Judicial Conference sent a letter April 4 to congressional leadership, including House and Senate leaders, Judiciary Committee chairs and others, asking lawmakers to create four new judgeships as well as making another 14 temporary positions permanent. The letter said that although bankruptcy filings nationally declined in recent years, some districts have seen an increase in filings “resulting in stress on existing judicial resources.”

“It affects the efficiency of the bankruptcy process, let alone the personal impact it's having on the sitting judges,” said Mark Collins, chairman of the bankruptcy and corporate restructuring department at the Delaware firm Richards, Layton & Finger.