Keith Kraus

Mr. Kraus www.dworkenlaw.com/attorneys/partners/keith-kraus/ graduated from Emory University (Atlanta, Georgia) in 1981 with a B.A. in Political Science.  He received his law degree in 1984 from Case Western Reserve University School of Law (Cleveland, Ohio). He practiced law in a small family firm, Kraus & Kraus, from 1984 until 2000. In 2000, Mr. Kraus joined Dworken & Bernstein as an associate attorney and in July 2003, was made a partner in the firm. He is a member of the Lake County Bar Association, the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, and the Florida Bar. Mr. Kraus is also a mediator with the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court and the Lake County Common Pleas Court for business cases.  He has over 25 years of experience in the areas of business and real estate transactions, and business and commercial litigation. His business practice is primarily focused on real estate sales and leasing transactions, financings, general corporate matters, and the purchase and sale of closely held businesses. Mr. Kraus has extensive experience in and handles a variety of business litigation matters including arbitrations, bench and jury trials in both state and federal court, and appellate litigation.

Dworken & Bernstein www.dworkenlaw.com offers a full range of legal services for businesses, individuals, and families in litigation and transactions with offices in Painesville and downtown Cleveland. Dworken & Bernstein is the largest law firm in the Lake, Geauga,

Ohio Lawyers Give Back  www.ohiolawyersgiveback.org was founded by Dworken & Bernstein Co., L.P.A. to promote the use of cy pres in class action settlements. When a class action is settled, plaintiff and defendant agree to a fund amount to pay all class members. Since many class members have moved, passed-away, or can't be found, millions of settlement dollars go unclaimed. That settlement money is intended to benefit the class—rather than revert to the wrongdoing defendant—so the ancient doctrine is now being used to distribute the unclaimed money to charities and non profits.

Over $22 million dollars has already been distributed, just by the sponsors, a single law firm. If cy pres were used more broadly, hundreds of millions of dollars each year would be available to help charities, non-profits, and the communities where we live. This website is dedicated to advancing the use of cy pres in all class action settlements where a large pool of unclaimed settlement funds is expected.