Beck Center for the Arts to Receive Cy Pres Award Tonight

Beck Center for the Arts has announced it is the next recipient of a Dworken & Bernstein Co., L.P.A. Cy Pres Award. To commemorate this major gift, a reception will be held 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday, June 4, 2012, in Daniels Lounge of Beck Center, located at 17801 Detroit Avenue in Lakewood. The amount of the award will remain undisclosed until the 7 p.m. ceremony on June 4. 

Dworken & Bernstein founded “Ohio Lawyers Give Back,” a website dedicated to promoting the use of “cy pres” (pronounced "sigh-pray") in class action settlements. Cy pres is an ancient legal doctrine which allows law firms to distribute the unclaimed money from class action legal settlements to charities or nonprofit organizations.

“My Irish Catholic mother always said ‘Patrick! Do the right thing!’ I believe this is the right thing,” said Patrick Perotti, a partner with Dworken & Bernstein. Perotti's class action practice has focused on providing justice not only for class members, but also for the broader community. Through the innovative use of cy pres, he has directed over $25 million in unclaimed class settlement monies to charities and nonprofits. For more information about Ohio Lawyers Give Back, visit http://www.ohiolawyersgiveback.org/.