BIO

Bob Kraus has extensive legal experience counseling venture capital funds in their investments, as well as a variety of businesses in a wide range of contexts and corporate transactions. Mr. Kraus founded KLG in 2012 after serving over twelve years as General Counsel of Village Ventures, where he was also a member of the sponsor of its funds and its affiliated fund network. As General Counsel of Village Ventures, he was responsible for all legal affairs of the Village Ventures funds and their management company, as well as those of its network of funds, including investments, governance matters, fund development and inter-fund relationships. He guided Village Ventures through its fundraising and corporate affairs, the establishment of its network, the acquisition and ongoing operations of its fund administration subsidiary, LeverPoint Management, LLC, and all of its investment transactions. He continues to advise Village Ventures, as well as such fund complexes as Greycroft, Primary, PJC, Long River, Borealis, Core Innovation, Nextview, BBG and others.

Mr. Kraus has authored articles on governance and ethical issues published in Business Law Today and was a member of the Working Group that authored the Corporate Governance volume of The In-House Counsel’s Essential Toolkit, published by the American Bar Association. He has been a member of the National Venture Capital Association’s VC General Counsel Group since its inception, and has helped draft and regularly update the NVCA’s model legal forms.

Prior to joining Village Ventures, Mr. Kraus was Group Counsel at American Express Company, where he was responsible for corporate finance, corporate governance and counseling of the new product development and domestic banking groups, as well as other parts of its consumer card businesses. He was responsible for advising management on the strategic planning, development, financing and operations associated with core businesses (American Express charge cards, credit cards, other open-end and closed-end credit, deposit products), and their integration into other Amex businesses.  He counseled new product development groups and was responsible for all corporate governance for American Express Centurion Bank, including relations with Board of Directors (with four independent directors) and key Board committees.  He also served as chair of the company’s outside counsel management team, responsible for achieving outside legal cost savings of 40%.  Before his work at American Express, he was in private practice with the New York law firm of Breed, Abbott & Morgan (now part of Winston & Strawn).

Mr. Kraus graduated magna cum laude from Williams College in 1979, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and received his J.D. cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School in 1982.