How to move cases from NextChapter to Best Case
Short answer
NextChapter exports a case as a zip of its own files, with Excel and CSV exports for assets, claims and lawsuits, and Best Case has no importer for any of them. The route that works is the printed petition package. Casewell reads official forms and writes a Best Case Desktop file. Individual Chapter 7 packages are supported today.
Firms leave NextChapter for the same reasons they leave anything else. An attorney retires and the successor files in Best Case. Two practices merge onto one platform. A client changes firms halfway through a case. This page covers what NextChapter can hand you, what Best Case will accept, and what Casewell does with a printed official-form package.
Can NextChapter export a case to Best Case?
No. NextChapter has an Export Case Data feature that produces a zip of its own files, plus separate Excel and CSV exports for assets, claims and lawsuits. Those are NextChapter’s formats. Best Case publishes no importer for them, no public specification for its own .BCB client file, and no public API. Nothing in either product turns a NextChapter case into a Best Case case.
| Route | What it moves | What it leaves behind | Available today |
|---|---|---|---|
| NextChapter Export Case Data | A zip of NextChapter’s own per-case files, plus Excel and CSV exports for assets, claims and lawsuits | Anything Best Case can open. The files are NextChapter’s formats, not a Best Case client file | Yes, inside NextChapter |
| NextChapter creditor CSV import | A creditor list from another bankruptcy program, into NextChapter | Everything else, and it runs in the wrong direction for a firm moving to Best Case | Yes, into NextChapter |
| Best Case import features | MyCaseInfo questionnaire data, and CIN Legal Data Services credit data into Schedules D, E and F | A competitor’s exported files, in any format | Yes, for its own data sources |
| Retyping into Best Case | Everything, at paralegal speed, one field at a time | Nothing, but the whole case is keyed twice | Always |
| Casewell petition import | Debtor identity, creditors, property, Schedule I and J, executory contracts, read out of the printed official forms | Exemptions, codebtors, intentions, most SOFA answers and the means test, all captured as notes for manual entry | Enabled per firm during the free beta |
How does a printed package get into Best Case?
Every consumer bankruptcy program prints the same federal official forms, and the official titles sit in the header and footer of each printed page. Casewell routes on those titles, reads each form on its own, and assembles a Best Case Desktop file that you open with File then Restore Client from Disk. The source program is never contacted, and no credentials for it are needed.
One practical note about NextChapter specifically. NextChapter is free to use until you file or download the petition, so the printed package exists for cases the firm has already paid for or filed. A case that was only ever drafted may need to be paid for before its package can be printed. Check that before planning a batch.
What carries over from a printed package?
A NextChapter print is the same set of federal official forms as any other program’s, and that is what Casewell reads. Jubilee prints have been verified end to end, through to opening the resulting file in Best Case Desktop. A NextChapter print has not been tested yet, so treat the list below as what the pipeline does with an official-form package rather than as a NextChapter-specific result.
- Debtor identity. Name, address, county, chapter and district. The Social Security number stays blank, because the printed form shows only the last four digits and nothing should invent the rest.
- Every creditor. Name, address, account digits, balance, secured, priority or unsecured classification, and the date incurred as printed. Claim balances reconcile to the printed schedule totals.
- Property. Real property at its printed value, vehicles with year, make and model, bank accounts with masked digits, household goods, electronics, clothing, jewellery and retirement accounts.
- Schedule I. Wages, overtime, gross pay, deductions and net monthly income.
- Schedule J. Every expense line on the right row, summing to the printed total.
- Schedule G. Executory contracts, with counterparty addresses.
- The SOFA lawsuit. Case title, court and status.
What still needs manual entry?
Exemptions, codebtors, the statement of intention, most Statement of Financial Affairs answers and the means test. None of those are written into the Best Case file. All of them are preserved in a review note attached to the job, grouped by form, with statute text kept word for word and SOFA questions kept with their printed numbers. A paralegal keys from the note rather than searching the source package.
Two more gaps worth planning for. An attorney-prepared petition prints no debtor phone number or e-mail address, so client contact details always come from the firm’s own records. And any page nothing was read from is listed by page number in the same note, so a reviewer can open it and confirm there was nothing on it.
What does the uploaded package have to be?
- Text-searchable. A PDF printed from the software, not a scan of a paper copy, and not an encrypted file.
- Official forms. Form 101, Schedules A through J, the Statement of Financial Affairs, the statement of intention and the means form. Local forms, plans, attachments and docket history are not read.
- One version of one client’s case. Never original and amended schedules in the same upload, because nothing should quietly pick between two versions of a schedule.
- Under the size limits. One PDF or up to twenty that merge in order, up to 25 MB and 200 pages in total.
- Individual Chapter 7. That is what has been verified. Chapter 13, joint filings and business petitions are not offered.
How long does a case take?
Minutes rather than hours. Reading the forms is nearly all of the elapsed time, because each one is read several times independently and the reads are compared. Assembly and file generation take seconds. Review time sits on top and depends on the case, because a person still checks every schedule against the printed source.
How does a firm turn petition import on?
By request, per firm, free during the current beta. An extra option appears beside the usual intake choices, the package uploads there, and the reviewed case downloads as a Best Case Desktop file. Jubilee is covered on moving cases from Jubilee to Best Case, and the general rules for any program are on converting a printed petition into Best Case.
If the firm has not decided whether to move at all, the product comparison is in Best Case against NextChapter and NextChapter reviews and pricing. If the recurring problem is intake rather than migration, start with getting client data into Best Case.
Can NextChapter export to Best Case?
No. NextChapter exports a zip of its own case files plus Excel and CSV files for assets, claims and lawsuits. Best Case has no importer for those formats, no published .BCB specification and no public API, so nothing reads them.
Has a NextChapter package been tested end to end?
Not yet. Jubilee prints of individual Chapter 7 cases have been verified end to end. NextChapter prints the same federal official forms, which is what the reader routes on, but a NextChapter package has not been through the pipeline and we will not claim it has.
Does Casewell connect to our NextChapter account?
No. It reads the printed petition package. No NextChapter login is used, no data is pulled from NextChapter, and no account access is transferred.
Does this work for Chapter 13?
No. Individual Chapter 7 is what has been verified. Chapter 13 plans, the Chapter 13 means forms and joint filings are not offered.
Do we still review every schedule?
Yes. Every petition-import field is marked for review, and a person compares each imported schedule with the source package in Best Case. The generated file is checked for structural importability, which is not the same as factual or legal correctness.
What about cases we drafted in NextChapter but never filed?
NextChapter is free until you file or download the petition, so an unpaid draft may not have a printable package yet. Confirm you can print the full official-form set for a case before counting it in a migration.
Does Casewell file anything?
No. Casewell produces a Best Case Desktop file. Preparation, review, amendment and filing stay in Best Case.
Best Case and Stretto are trademarks of their respective owners. Casewell is an independent product and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Best Case, Stretto, or any of their affiliates. References to Best Case and Stretto describe compatibility only and are nominative (descriptive) use.
This page is general information for law-firm staff, not legal advice for any particular case.