216.696.8700
Brett Krantz
Partner
216.736.7238
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Brett Krantz

Partner
216.736.7238
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Brett and his team at KJK provide insightful counsel on our litigation matters, taking the time to dig in and understand our business and the industry. As a growing nationwide business, we also have legal issues which arise throughout the United States. When needed, Brett has referred us to high quality local firms through KJK’s affiliation with the Meritas network which has been very helpful in responding to issues across the country.

Andrew Seger
Chief Legal Officer, NAE/NWAN

OVERVIEW & EXPERIENCE

Over the course of Brett’s 30-plus legal career, he has counseled a diverse client base including individuals, owners of regulated and non-regulated companies, small entrepreneurial entities and large public corporations. His areas of practice include commercial disputes, regulatory matters, securities, and risk management. His knowledge of both litigation and ADR allows him to offer clients thoughtful, strategic guidance tailored to the realities of modern business conflict resolution.

Brett is the former chair of Meritas, a Chambers Elite Law Firm Network made up of highly vetted, independent law firms, including the KJK offices in both Cleveland and Columbus, spanning 93 countries and 250 markets worldwide. Through his leadership and long-standing involvement, including serving as Chair of the Meritas Quality Assurance Committee, Executive Committee and Board of Directors, Brett has helped strengthen KJK’s presence within the network and assist the firm’s clients in gaining access to quality legal services throughout the world.

Brett has significant experience in arbitration and alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and currently acts as an appointed arbitrator and mediator.  He serves as an arbitrator with both the American Arbitration Association, the largest private global provider of ADR services, for commercial and consumer disputes,  and with FINRA (the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) for securities disputes.  He is also a mediator for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.

In addition to his arbitration work, Brett is an accomplished litigator. He has handled a wide array of business-to-business commercial disputes and securities issues involving the Federal and State Courts, FINRA, the SEC and state securities regulators. Brett also represents clients in regulatory reviews and investigations of securities practices, business practices relating to consumer sales, and business planning and litigation involving the Ohio Alcoholic Beverages Franchise Act.

Known for his practical, forward-thinking approach, Brett focuses on helping clients limit litigation and regulatory exposure while pursuing opportunities for growth. His counsel is grounded in a deep understanding of business realities, ensuring legal strategies align with broader operational and financial goals.

Outside of his work at KJK, Brett is civically involved in his home community of Shaker Heights, where four generations of his family have resided, and is a member of the Western Reserve Historical Society’s Board of Directors.

Representative Experience
  • Served as trial counsel in such cases as:
    • two related trials involving disputes between owners of a broker-dealer; obtained injunctive relief against majority owners, a finding of defamation against them and a total dismissal of all claims against the firms’ clients
    • a month-long, multi-party AAA dispute involving the sale by a Fortune 100 company of its federally regulated subsidiary
    • a case involving three large nonprofits in an eight–figure FINRA arbitration in one of the first collateralized debt obligations cases to go to trial
  • Obtained substantial settlement in a suit brought by former minority owner against majority owner alleging self-dealing and breach of fiduciary duty
  • Served as counsel for a class in a seven-year long fraud litigation matter which included a recommended default judgment against another party due to their discovery abuses; class was repaid their entire loss
  • Represented private foundation in trial against public university in dispute over grants
  • Representing companies and individuals in numerous state and federal regulatory investigations involving consumer protection and securities laws
AWARDS
  • The Best Lawyers in America®, Litigation – Securities, 2025 – 2026
  • Martindale-Hubbell AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated Attorney, 2012 – 2025
  • Selected to Ohio Super Lawyers, 2008 – 2025
  • Martindale-Hubbell AV® AV Preeminent Attorney – Judicial Edition 2017 – 2022
  • America’s Most Honored Lawyers – Top 1% 2016 – 2022
  • America’s Most Honored Professionals 2015 – Top 10%
BAR / COURT ADMISSIONS
  • Ohio
  • Illinois
  • District of Columbia
PROFESSIONAL & CIVIC INVOLVEMENT
  • Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association
  • American Arbitration Association
    • Commercial and Consumer Arbitrator
  •  Meritas
    • Chair, 2021 – 2024
    • Executive Committee & Vice Chair, Board of Directors, 2018 – 2020
    • Chairman, Quality Assurance Committee, 2018 – 2020
    • Board of Directors, 2016 – 2018
    • Membership Committee, 2014 – 2018
    • Chairman, Annual Meeting Planning Committee, 2017
    • Member, Annual Meeting Planning Committee, 2016
  • Mandel JCC
    • Executive Committee, 2020 – Present
    • Board of Directors, 2017
  • Camp Wise, Advisory Board, 2013 – 2016
    • Strategic Planning Committee, 2015
  • Positive Education Program
    • Board of Directors, 2008 – 2016
    • Executive Committee
PRESENTATIONS & PUBLICATIONS
  • “Does ruling in Ohio malpractice case create risk for future of Swiss legal vereins?” The Lawyer’s Daily, Nov. 30, 2022
  • Panel Speaker, “Seek the Horizon: Competing Upstream in Legal Services,” Jan. 21, 2022
  • “How to Protect Against Cybersecurity Threats in a Work-from-Home Environment,” Meritas White Paper, July 13, 2020
  • Association of Corporate Counsel 2017 Annual Meeting, “Small Companies Facing Big Litigation,” Speaker, Oct. 17, 2017
  • Meritas 2017 Annual Meeting, “What Lobbyists Really Do and How They Do It,” Moderator, April 21, 2017
  • “Creating Signed, Written Contracts Over the Telephone,” Connections Magazine, July 1, 2012

PRACTICE AREAS

EDUCATION

  • University of Chicago Law School, J.D., 1990
  • Dartmouth College, A.B., 1985, cum laude

RECENT KJK INSIGHTS

Industry Pushback Against FINRA: A Growing Challenge to Its Authority

Industry Pushback Against FINRA: A Growing Challenge to Its Authority

Over the last few years, broker dealers and financial advisors have filed a flurry of legal actions seeking both: (1) to strip the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) of its power to adjudicate customer and industry disputes through FINRA’s arbitration...

Clients would describe me as a creative thinker who is also a pragmatic lawyer and understands that their decisions are ultimately business decisions. Helping a client get to a result that is the most beneficial and practical is what we constantly strive for.

Brett Krantz
Partner