2025 was another outstanding year for the Firm, as we delivered key wins in a range of complex litigation; achieved successful results in transactional matters totaling more than $1 billion, including a single $100 million private art sale; shared our expertise through a variety of speaking engagements; and marked an exciting milestone with our move to the historic Fuller Building.  For the sixth consecutive year, Chambers & Partners High Net Worth Guide 2025 recognized the firm’s founding partner, Judd Grossman, as one of the country’s foremost litigators in Art and Cultural Property Law.  And ARTnews again included Judd on its annual list of the country’s Top Art World Professionals.

Winning Summary Judgment Awarding Title to Basquiat Masterpiece
In May, we celebrated a major win in a complex, multilateral dispute over a Basquiat masterwork at the heart of the fraudulent schemes orchestrated by convicted art dealer Inigo Philbrick.  After our client entrusted Philbrick to sell the painting, he secretly stole it and delivered it to a specialty lender as collateral for a personal loan.  After nearly six years of litigation, a federal judge awarded summary judgment in our client’s favor, agreeing with our arguments that the lender could not obtain a security interest in property that the borrower did not own, and that our client alone holds legal title to this masterpiece.
 
Winning Summary Judgment on Fraud Claims Against Philip Falcone
This summer, the team secured a summary-judgment victory on behalf of a secured lender against former hedge-fund billionaire Philip Falcone related to numerous loans backed by millions of dollars of valuable personal property. Following lengthy oral argument, the court delivered our client a complete and decisive win, granting summary judgment on the fraud claim, and finding as a matter of law that Falcone had made material misrepresentations “clearly intended on their face to induce Defendant to issue the loans that later resulted in substantial financial injury.” 
 
Obtaining Court Approval for Sale of Property to Satisfy Money Judgment
We continue to represent one of the nation’s top real-estate firms in litigation to collect years of unpaid rent owed by a former tenant.  Following entry of a money judgment awarding all outstanding rent and attorneys’ fees, we obtained a “turnover” order to sell a trove of valuable personal property that the tenant had left behind at the premises.  To frustrate those efforts, the debtor sought bankruptcy protection, claiming that the property could not be sold outside the bankruptcy proceedings.  But after a one-day trial, followed by extensive post-trial briefing and oral argument, we recently obtained court approval for the proposed sale to satisfy the outstanding judgment.
 
Defeating Motion to Dismiss Bid to Recover Chagall Painting Tied to Chowaiki Fraud
The firm obtained a favorable federal court ruling on behalf of a group of collectors asserting joint ownership of a Chagall painting linked to disgraced former art dealer Ezra Chowaiki.  The firm has been instrumental in representing several Chowaiki victims—including dealers, collectors, and investors—in pursuing redress for his massive fraud schemes.  This decision enabled these clients to continue their efforts to recover the painting they paid for years ago.
 
Blocking Lender’s Effort to Dismiss Lawsuit to Recover Christopher Wool Artwork
We prevailed on a key motion in yet another case stemming from Inigo Philbrick’s fraudulent schemes, this one involving a Christopher Wool artwork that our clients co-invested in with Philbrick, only for him to then to steal and pledge it as loan collateral to a specialty lender.  After the lender refused to return the artwork or recognize our clients’ interests, our team successfully defeated the lender’s attempt to dismiss the claims; and soon after we achieved a favorable settlement for our clients.
 
Protecting Peter Beard’s Legacy
The firm remains committed to its longstanding representation of the estate and studio of the late pioneering artist and photographer Peter Beard.  Most recently, we commenced an action against a major auction house in connection with the sale of unauthorized Beard-related materials.  Shortly after our filing, we reached a favorable agreement with the auction house establishing a protocol for the future sale of Beard’s works.
 
Obtaining Federal Order Issuing Bench Warrant for Arrest of Rogue Art Dealer
The firm obtained severe sanctions against an art dealer gone rogue after we obtained a money judgment on our client’s behalf.  The court issued a bench warrant for the dealer as well as his father, and made a finding of civil contempt, along with an award of attorneys’ fees and fines in addition to the money judgment.  
 
Recovering Millions in Coverage Dispute Involving Damage to Ab-Ex Masterpiece
We obtained a complete recovery for a collector whose important eight-figure Abstract Expressionist work was severely damaged while on consignment.  After the accident, the gallery refused to acknowledge that there had been a total loss, and a contract dispute arose over how the loss, restoration, and insurance coverage should be handled.  Based on our aggressive and creative arguments under the gallery’s imprecise contract terms governing loss events, we eventually convinced the gallery to pay the full consignment value without having to resort to litigation.
 
Major Transactions
We handled countless significant and complex transactions, including numerous eight- and nine-figure private sales of masterworks, along with auction consignments and guarantees.  We represented a leading non-profit client undertaking a groundbreaking multi-year collaboration with another prominent arts organization.  We helped an arts-related organization navigate a government contract.  We advised a collector whose planned major donation to an institution hit a snag.  And we brokered a pre-litigation settlement of a title dispute involving extremely valuable memorabilia and ephemera from a rock-n-roll legend.
 
Civic Commitment
We continued our long track record of pro bono work and our dedication to civic commitment.  In April, we proudly joined more than 500 leading law firms nationwide in signing an amicus curiae brief by former Solicitor General of the United States Donald B. Verrilli, Jr., in support of law firm Perkins Coie, highlighting the serious threat that executive actions targeting law firms pose to constitutional governance, the rule of law, and the independence of the legal profession.  We were honored to stand alongside these other firms in defense of these principles.
 
Film and Speaking Engagements
Judd Grossman guest lectured at the Sotheby’s Institute of Art for the graduate program, The Legal Lifecycle of Art: From the Studio to the Market.  Judd joined Artnet’s Eileen Kinsella on The Art Angle’s Art World Infamy series to revisit the story of Inigo Philbrick’s massive fraud, sharing insights gained from representing many of his victims.  He also spoke as a panelist at the Appraisers Association of America’s National Convention in New York to discuss authentication and pre-sale due diligence.  And he was featured in the new film, “For the Money: Three Spectacular Art Fraud Stories,” by BAFTA-nominated director Stefan Stuckert.
 
Special Counsel Kate Lucas was a featured speaker at Amherst College’s “AI in the Liberal Arts” initiative, discussing the many ways in which generative AI is impacting the visual arts field.  And Kate Lucas and associate Jacqueline Jakimowicz presented at the Center for Art Law in June, exploring the key trends in catalogue raisonné litigation.

The Year Ahead
As the new year begins, we are already immersed in numerous litigation and transactional matters, including a federal lawsuit on behalf of a lender seeking redress for a collateral exchange tainted by an auction pump-and-dump scheme; litigation on behalf of the daughter of an acclaimed photographer regarding the mismanagement of assets related to her father’s artistic career; and major private sales and auction consignments and guarantees.  

We look forward to another exciting and rewarding year ahead, and we wish the same to all our clients and friends.