Judd Grossman is the Founder and Managing Partner of Grossman LLP.  Judd’s clients include high-net-worth individuals, family offices, art galleries and advisors, businesses, and institutions in a wide variety of matters, including art-related disputes and commercial cases.  Year after year Judd has been recognized by Chambers as one of the country’s leading litigators in the field of art law.  ArtNews has named him among the country’s Top 75 Art World Professionals.  And New York’s 2024 Arts & Culture Power 100! named Judd as “the top arts attorney” in all of New York.  Some of Judd’s recent notable matters include:  

 

• Securing plaintiff’s judgment after a 3-day bench trial in the Southern District of New York, affirmed on appeal by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, in a title dispute seeking the return of a stolen American modernist painting to a major corporate art collection.  See Abbott Laboratories v. Feinberg, et al., 506 F. Supp. 3d 185 (S.D.N.Y. 2020), aff’d, No. 21-45, 2023 WL 19076 (2d Cir. Jan. 3, 2023).
• Securing total summary-judgment win, upheld by multiple reconsideration rulings, on behalf of a prominent art collector in an ownership dispute involving a major Jean-Michel Basquiat painting—in a case the Baer Faxt called “the first major decision to be handed down in the numerous lawsuits stemming from Inigo Philbrick's massive fraud.”  See Athena Art Fin. Corp. v. Certain Artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat Entitled Humidity, 1982, Case No. 20-cv-04669 (S.D.N.Y.).
• Obtaining total victory, affirmed on appeal, dismissing a lawsuit by Madonna against her former art advisor seeking to enjoin the sale of memorabilia and other ephemera.  See Ciccone v. Gotta Have It! Collectibles, Inc., et al., Case No. 156454/2017, 2018 WL 1911932 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. Co. Apr. 23, 2018).
• Obtaining complete victory dismissing a lawsuit against a collateral loan broker in a dispute involving a loan secured by a $3 million Kusama painting.  See Junsub Shim v. Luxury Asset Capital, LLC, Case No. 24-cv-09738, 2025 WL 88041 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 10, 2025). 
• Securing a total win on summary judgment against former hedge-fund billionaire Phil Falcone on behalf of an art lender that had issued loans collateralized by artwork and a multi-million dollar Harry Winston diamond ring.  See Falcone v. BLCE, Case No. 656411/2011, 2025 WL 2093527 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. Co. July 25, 2025).
• Securing complete dismissal for one of the country’s leading art galleries in a lawsuit brought by billionaire art collector Michael Steinhardt arising out of the $12 million sale of a Gilbert Stuart full-length George Washington portrait.  See Steinhardt v. Hirschl & Adler Galleries, Case No: 159990/2020 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. Co.).
• Obtaining summary judgment for renowned photographer Peter Beard, affirmed on appeal after oral argument, in an action to recover three of the artist’s original artworks.  See Beard v. Chase, 56 Misc.3d 1202(A), 63 N.Y.S.3d 304 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. Co. June 19, 2017), aff’d, 162 A.D.3d 533, 80 N.Y.S.3d 231 (1st Dep’t 2018).
• Obtaining dismissal of a lawsuit on behalf of a prominent art advisor who was sued by entertainment executive Ron Meyer over the sale of a Mark Rothko painting that turned out to be a forgery.  See Meyer v. Seidel, et al., Case No. 20-CV-3536, 2021 WL 3621695, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 16, 2021), aff’d in part, 89 F.4th 117 (2d Cir. 2023).
• Winning summary judgment, affirmed on appeal after oral argument, on behalf of a prominent Manhattan art gallery in a title dispute concerning an Alexander Calder stabile.  See Meaders v. Helwaser, 436 F. Supp. 3d 677 (S.D.N.Y. 2020), aff’d, 831 F. App’x 595 (2d Cir. 2020).
• Obtaining summary judgment and a unanimous affirmance in the First Department for a collector seeking to reclaim a Marc Chagall painting that had been stolen by a Manhattan art gallery as part of a massive art-fraud scheme.  See Silver v. Alon Zakaim Fine Art Ltd., 180 A.D.3d 467, 115 N.Y.S.3d 669 (1st Dep’t 2020).
• Successfully representing buyers defrauded into purchasing stolen Jasper Johns artworks.  See Equinox Gallery Ltd. v. Dorfman, Case No. 17 Civ. 230, 2018 WL 745707 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 25, 2018) (denying motion to dismiss federal RICO and fraud claims) and Kolodny v. Meyer, et al., Case No. 14-cv-03354 (S.D.N.Y.).  
• Counseling the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver in connection with a major Jean-Michel Basquiat exhibition. 
• Negotiating a full recovery from a major auction house for a collector whose $8 million Sam Francis painting was severely damaged while on consignment.
• Representing International Museum of World War II against Ronald Lauder in connection with claims concerning $25 million collection of World War II memorabilia.
• Successfully representing numerous art collectors in a series of lawsuits arising from Inigo Philbrick’s international art fraud, dubbed by ArtNews as “One of the Biggest Potential Modern Art Scandals.”
• Successfully representing more than ten victims of Ezra Chowaiki’s massive art-fraud scheme, including pursuing claims in state and federal court, bankruptcy proceedings, and criminal forfeiture proceedings.
• Providing advice and comprehensive contracts for a leading non-profit client undertaking a groundbreaking multi-year collaboration with another prominent arts organization.
• Representing real-estate developers in a litigation involving a major mixed-use high-rise building located in Manhattan’s Hudson Yards. 
• Obtaining $8 million judgment in securities-fraud suit on behalf of investors victimized by a Ponzi scheme.  See Nagelberg v. Meli, et al., Case No. 17-cv-2524 (S.D.N.Y.).
• Securing a federal court order issuing a bench warrant for arrest of rogue art dealer and his father, including sanctions and civil contempt.  See Artwide Int’l H.K. Ltd. v. Foster, Case No. 22-cv-6417 (CPO/EAP), 2025 WL 2244719 (D.N.J. Aug. 6, 2025).
• Successfully representing national referral agency in a “bet the company” litigation concerning the employment classification of thousands of independent contractors.
• Representing television personality in an employment-discrimination lawsuit against NBC.  See Greenleaf v. NBCUniversal Media, LLC, et al., Case No. 651579/2018 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. Co.).
• Advising prominent artists’ foundations in connection with catalogue raisonné projects.
• Obtaining complete victory after being retained to handle the appeal in a contentious and long-running real estate litigation.  See Innerworkings, Inc. v. Arik Eshel CPA & Assoc. P.C., 224 A.D.3d 590, 206 N.Y.S.3d 51 (1st Dep’t 2024).
• Successfully litigating art-forgery case against the Knoedler Gallery arising from the $17 million sale of a counterfeit Jackson Pollock painting.

Judd formerly served as the Chair of NYCLA’s Art Law Committee, and he is a member of the New York City Bar Association’s Art Law Committee.  He regularly is invited to speak on art-law topics, including at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Columbia Business School, Sotheby’s Institute of Art, New York University (Art Crime Symposium), St. John’s University (Art at Risk Conference), NYCLA’s Art Law Day, EXPO Chicago, and the International Bar Association (Rome, Italy).  Judd frequently offers commentary regarding art-law matters on television, in podcasts and documentaries, and in major news publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, Artnet, ArtNews, and The Art Newspaper, among many others.

Judd graduated cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania, where he also received his law degree.  Following law school, he served as a law clerk to the Hon. Jerome B. Simandle, U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.  He then practiced in the securities-litigation practice group of O’Melveny & Myers LLP. 

Judd previously served on the advisory board of Lincoln Center Education, and the board of directors of Urban Arts Partnership.  He lives in Manhattan with his wife, Meredith, who is an attending physician in the Pediatrics Department of Mount Sinai Hospital, and their two daughters.