Bankruptcies provide a special protection to filers known as automatic stay. Automatic stay can stave off lawsuits and judgments until the bankruptcy protections are lifted by the cart. This means that if you are facing credit card lawsuits from creditors or if you have a judgment that is being carried out against you, you can stop them all by filing for a bankruptcy.

Creditors are not permitted to contact you, demand money from you, threaten you or sue you when you are under bankruptcy protections. You can rest assured that you will have a relief from unscrupulous creditors as you work hard to facilitate a payment plan or liquidate your assets to satisfy debt. Depending on which chapter of bankruptcy you file for, you may have to liquidate assets or may need to set up a repayment plan which you must be faithful to repay for all debtors. Some debts may be discharged, meaning that you won't ever have to pay them.

It is important to note that automatic stay does not protect you from all lawsuits and penalties. For example, if you are arrested and required to pay a criminal fine, you cannot discharge that fine or avoid that fine because of bankruptcy. Similarly, if you are sued in a civil proceeding and are required to pay a plaintiff a substantial amount of money, you cannot discharge these costs through bankruptcy. You also can't avoid paying these expenses because of bankruptcy. It is important to note that bankruptcy protection only acts as a shield against creditor lawsuits or creditor judgments, and not as a fast way out of paying fines, settlements or verdicts.

In conclusion, if you intend to file for bankruptcy to stop a lawsuit from a creditor, then you will be protected from that individual. If you file for bankruptcy to stop a civil lawsuit or avoid paying criminal penalties, you will be out of luck. Contact a skilled bankruptcy attorney near you if you want more information about lawsuits and bankruptcy or want more information about how to file.