Automatic Stay

• When you file for bankruptcy, this action starts an automatic stay against collection activity on any of your debts. This automatic stay includes lawsuits, as they are a collection action. The lawsuit would have to stop completely until the bankruptcy action has been settled, or the party suing you can ask the court for relief from the stay, and allow the suit to continue. It is unlikely the bankruptcy court would allow this if the subject debt was dischargeable.
  
  

Malicious Injury and Drunk Driving

• Debts resulting from injuries caused by a person driving a vehicle while intoxicated are not dischargeable; the debts will need to be paid one way or another. The same rule applies if a debt is due to malicious or willful injury to another party. A lawsuit filed due to drunk driving or malicious injury will probably not be stopped due to a bankruptcy filing. The plaintiff may put a notice of claim in with the bankruptcy court, or temporarily suspend his lawsuit, but bankruptcy will not eliminate this type of lawsuit permanently.
  
  

Consumer Debt

• If a credit card company or other consumer lender files a lawsuit against you, your best course of action may be to file for bankruptcy. Most consumer debt is dischargeable in bankruptcy, and a creditor could not continue on with a lawsuit after the bankruptcy filing, due to the automatic stay. The debt would be discharged at the conclusion of the bankruptcy, and the creditor would be forbidden from taking any further collection activity.
  
  

Adversary Proceedings

• A creditor who has filed a lawsuit against you may not feel there debt should be discharged. If the creditor objects to your bankruptcy filing, it can file an adversary proceeding with the bankruptcy court. This is a separate lawsuit from the bankruptcy and usually requires a separate hearing from the bankruptcy action. The creditor will provide information stating why your debt should not be discharged, and you will need to make your case as to why it should. Adversary proceedings are rare with dischargeable debt; the party that wants to collect a dischargeable debt usually gains little and could end up paying more in legal fees than it will collect.