The Chrysler bankruptcy hearing has swamped a Manhattan court with an unprecedented number of pleadings, according to docket tracking service NetDockets.com.

In the first 45 days of Chrysler’s bankruptcy, attorneys filed more than four times the number of pleadings than over the same period for collapsed corporate giants WorldCom or Enron.

More than 4,200 pleadings were filed in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, said NetDockets. That’s more than the 967 pleadings related to Enron in the first six weeks, or even Lehman Brothers Holdings’ 1,362 pleadings.

In the first 16 days after General Motors for bankruptcy, almost 1,800 pleadings were filed.

What does this mean for courts, for attorneys? Does it spur court investment in court clerks or electronic technology? Is it a gold mine for lawyers? A headache for the judge?

Already, a judicial body is urging Congress to authorize new bankruptcy judgeships to cope with a surge in bankruptcy filings that has tracked weakness in the U.S. economy.