Many large businesses have multiple legal entities associated with them. When a large business with multiple entities files for bankruptcy, each entity will result in a separate bankruptcy case. Because the cases are related to each other, what often happens in bankruptcies like these is that they will be treated as a group, or jointly administered, with one case being designated the lead, or parent, case. The lead case will then have all the docket activity for the group of related cases. The non-lead cases are called associated cases, and will not show any docket activity.
When following such a bankruptcy, it is important to follow the lead case. When we detect a group of jointly administered cases, we mark the associated and lead cases. The case information tab of the case page will show whether a case is associated with a lead case, or is a lead case and has associated cases.