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All nominations for the annual Judge William L. Norton, Jr. Judicial Excellence Award must be received by the end of today. This award, co-sponsored by American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) and Thomson Reuters, honors a distinguished bankruptcy judge whose career has embodied the same dedication to the insolvency community as did that of the award’s namesake. You can view a list of the past honorees here. The award will be presented at the annual meeting of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges (NCBJ) in October. To nominate a candidate for the award, please download the nomination form here, and email it to Kathryn Copeland at kathryn.copeland@thomsonreuters.com.

The largest consumer bankruptcy law firm in Illinois and one of the biggest in the country has filed for bankruptcy after taking millions in taxpayer-backed loans meant to help struggling businesses survive the pandemic, the Chicago Sun Times reported. The Semrad Law Firm LLC, which markets itself as DebtStoppers, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy on April 26 in Delaware — blaming the COVID-19 pandemic. The PPP loans were aimed at small businesses that needed help maintaining their payroll, but court filings show Semrad Law was using paralegals and call center workers in Bulgaria while ultimately cutting its U.S. workforce in half. Its Bulgarian vendor, ZenTeli OOD, is partly owned by the two brothers behind Semrad Law. Records show the law firm received a financial lifeline during the pandemic, obtaining more than $3.8 million in loans through the federal Paycheck Protection Program, launched early in the economic crisis. Patrick Semrad, 44, said the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged the consumer bankruptcy sector, forcing the firm to make the tough decision to file for chapter 11 earlier this year. The law firm went from filing 1,112 cases in June 2019 to filing 486 cases in June 2021, he said. Last month, it filed 632 cases.

Jerry L. Jensen has been appointed by Attorney General Merrick B. Garland as the Acting U.S. Trustee for Arkansas, Nebraska, and Missouri (Region 13) effective Aug. 1, the Executive Office for U.S. Trustees announced yesterday. Jensen replaces Daniel J. Casamatta, who is retiring after 35 years of dedicated service to the department, including the last eight years as the Acting U.S. Trustee in Region 13. Under 28 U.S.C. § 585(a), the Attorney General may fill U.S. Trustee vacancies by appointing an Acting U.S. Trustee. Jensen joined the U.S. Trustee Program (USTP) in 1989 as a trial attorney in the Omaha office and was appointed as the Assistant U.S. Trustee there in 2019. He has served important roles both regionally and nationally, including as the Region 13 Appellate Coordinator for many years and as a member of four internal peer review teams charged with assessing field office compliance with USTP standards, policies, and expected levels of performance. He also is active within the District of Nebraska, including representing the USTP on the district’s interagency Bankruptcy Fraud Working Group and the Nebraska Bankruptcy Court Practice Committee and serving as a frequent lecturer at local and regional professional programs. Jensen received his Juris Doctor from Creighton University School of Law and his Master of Laws in agricultural law from the University of Arkansas School of Law.

After 127 years in San Francisco, Anchor Brewing Co. has brewed its last batch of beer. The historic San Francisco brewery had already announced last month that it would end production of its signature "Anchor Christmas Ale" and planned to stop selling its beer nationally. Now, all brewing has stopped, the San Francisco Business Times reported. It intends to package and distribute the beer that it has on hand through the end of the month, after which it will cease operations and liquidate the business as part of an assignment for the benefit of creditors (ABC) — a voluntary alternative to formal bankruptcy proceedings. The decision follows an early Wednesday morning vote by the board of directors of Sapporo Holdings Ltd., the Japanese brewing giant which purchased Anchor Brewing in 2017. In a statement, Anchor Brewing cited a "combination of challenging economic factors and declining sales since 2016."