Blake A. Strautins, Esq.

Blake A. Strautins is a co-owner and managing partner of Kluever Law Group, LLC, where he heads the firm’s litigation department. Blake attended Boston University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in political science in 2004, and he then earned his juris doctor from DePaul University College of Law in 2007. Blake was admitted to the bar in Illinois that same year.

Blake has been practicing in the field of complex litigation his entire legal career, with a focus on creditor’s rights litigation and mortgage foreclosure litigation and appeals in Illinois since 2014. His significant experience includes litigating cases concerning the FDCPA, TILA, and complex mortgage foreclosure litigation issues. Over the last few years, he personally handled and won several appeals in Illinois that created new law favorable to the mortgage foreclosure plaintiffs’ bar. Blake takes great pride in charting the firm’s path forward into continued growth and success in partnership with its diverse client base.

He is a volunteer member of the Chicago Bar Association’s Judicial Evaluation Committee, where he helps evaluate judicial candidates for the bench. He also consistently volunteers to judge CBA and ABA moot court and moot arbitration competitions each year, while working as a mentor to young attorneys. He was awarded the ALFN JPEG Picture the Future Award in 2021.
He most recently spoke on the topic of payoffs and reinstatements at ALFN Answers in 2022 in NM. He also spoke on a LL100 webinar on the topic of emerging litigation trends in the industry in August 2022. Each of these panels was well-attended and well-received by all, including servicers in the audience that thanked me for my insights and presentation.

Blake also previously obtained a key ruling from the Illinois appellate court stemming from mortgage foreclosure litigation in U.S. Bank Nat'l Ass'n as Tr. for Registered Holders of First Franklin Mortgage Loan Tr., Mortgage Loan Asset-Backed Certificates, Series 2007-FF2 v. Gagua, 2020 IL App (1st) 190454, which is the leading case in Illinois on the requirements for judgment affidavits and compliance with Illinois law on same.

Blake is a regular contributor to the ALFN Angle, most recently with the edition that was released in November 2022 on the topic of new timelines for foreclosures being established in Illinois.