Lecturer Bios
Sharon Cohen Levin
Sharon Cohen Levin is the Chief of the Asset Forfeiture Unit in the Criminal Division of the United States Attorney’s Office for
the Southern District of New York, where she has served as Chief since 1996. Under her guidance, the Asset Forfeiture Unit
handles all criminal and civil forfeiture actions in the Southern District of New York. These cases include the forfeiture of the
proceeds of corporate and securities fraud, economic crime, cybercrime, health care fraud, international narcotics trafficking,
terrorism, money laundering and public corruption. In the past six years, the Southern District of New York has forfeited nearly
$6 billion in crime proceeds.
As the Chief of the Asset Forfeiture Unit, AUSA Levin pioneered the use of federal forfeiture laws to recover and return stolen
art and cultural heritage property. The SDNY Asset Forfeiture Unit has initiated dozens of proceedings under the forfeiture laws
seizing and returning artwork and cultural property to the persons and nations who rightfully own them. Notable examples
include the forfeiture and repatriation of stolen paintings by Lavinia Fontana, Jean Michel Basquiat, Roy Lichtenstein, Serge
Poliakoff, Anton Graff and Winslow Homer; drawings by Rembrandt and Duhrer; an Etruscan bronze statute dated circa 490
B.C.; an antique gold platter dated circa 450 B.C.; a rare Mexican manuscript; and a medieval carved wood panel which was
originally inside the historic Great Mosque in Dvrigi; and an Ancient Hebrew Bible owned by the Jewish Community of Vienna
and stolen during the Holocaust.
In 2001, AUSA Levin was awarded the Attorney General’s John Marshall Award for Outstanding Legal Achievement for Asset
Forfeiture for her use of the federal forfeiture laws to recover and return stolen art and cultural heritage property. AUSA Levin
was also awarded the Attorney General’s Asset Forfeiture Award in 2006, 2007 and 2010 for her work in the forfeiture of fraud
proceeds and their restoration to victims. In 2009, she was awarded the Department of Justice’s National Asset Forfeiture
Award for Sustained Exceptional Service by an Individual. In 2011, AUSA Levin received the Henry L. Stimson Medal
presented to the Outstanding Assistant U.S. Attorney, Criminal Division, Southern District of New York. In addition, in 2011
she was awarded the Women in Federal Law Enforcement Outstanding Federal Law Enforcement Employee Award. In 2012,
AUSA Levin was a recipient of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director’s International Achievement Award for her
contributions to Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Cultural Property, Art and Antiquities Program.
Renée Vara
Renée Vara is the Director of Vara Fine Arts - a full service art advisory firm specializing in 20th century, contemporary and
emerging art. For over a decade, she was the National Fine Arts Specialist at Chubb Insurance, where she served as the
private curator and collection manager for Artnews Magazine’s “Top 100 Collectors” with collections valued up to $1 billion.
Renée is a Certified Appraiser and valuation expert and a collection manager. As an expert, she has been cited in many
publications including: Forbes, The New York Times, Dow Jones, The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, Artnews, Art
& Antiques, CNN, Town and Country, US News and World Report and Crain’s.
She holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in art history, from Franklin & Marshall College and Hunter/CUNY respectively,
and has taught as a professor at NYU’s Appraisal Studies, Museum Studies and Art History programs for over a decade.
In 2011, NYU awarded her with an “Excellence in Teaching Award.” In the spring of 2011, Renée was appointed Adjunct
Professor at the Sotheby’s Institute of Art. She also served an appointed lecturer at the Guggenheim Museum in New York.
Renée actively works within the marketplace. She regularly curates international emerging art shows at fairs and venues
around the world including Art Basel Miami, Scope, Frieze, and Istanbul Biennale. She has lectured on collecting contemporary
art and on the art market at venues such as the American Association of Museums, Norwood Club, Nation Arts Society,
Sotheby’s, Freeman’s, Art Basel/Art Basel Miami, UBS, Travelers Insurance and Clairden Leu.
In addition, she supports nonprofit art organizations, as a member of the Board of Directors of POWArts (www.powarts.org),
an organization of professional women working in the arts, and as a second-term member of the Board of Directors of the
Appraisers Association of America (www.appraisersassoc.org), which sets appraisal standards in the industry. She is also
Creative Director for the avant-garde art publication, INPUT Journal (www.inputjournal.org).
Raymond J. Dowd, Esq.
Raymond J. Dowd is a member of Dunnington Bartholow & Miller’s litigation and arbitration, and intellectual property and art law practice groups. He has broad commercial litigation experience in both federal and state trial and appellate courts, representing both plaintiffs and defendants in copyright and trademark, and domain name owners and content providers in litigation and arbitration. Representations include conducting bench and jury trials, arbitrations and administrative proceedings, emergency applications for injunctive relief, quashing subpoenas, obtaining, enforcing and collecting judgments. Trust and estates matters include contested probate proceedings through trial, disputes involving heirship and decedents’ estates. International litigation includes conducting depositions in Canada, France and Switzerland, pursuing discovery through letters rogatory, obtaining service of process in foreign countries and obtaining and challenging foreign experts. Mr. Dowd’s corporate
counseling includes corporate and transactional work for entrepreneurial companies, including international licensing. Mr. Dowd also counsels art owners and dealers, including transactional representation, UCC filings, tracking and recovering stolen art and handling disputes involving provenance, authenticity and theft. Trademark counseling services include registration, policing and enforcing rights of trademark owners and users. Counseling political candidates includes election day onsite monitoring, poll access challenges, signature challenges and matters involving election law and political campaigns. Mr. Dowd petitioned successfully for the removal of the co-executors of American Tobacco heiress Doris Duke’s estate and upheld the first honorary pet trust challenged in New York history, obtaining a $100,000 trust for heiress Doris Duke’s dogs.
Mr. Dowd’s recent lectures include “Conflicts of Law in Art Disputes” (Art Litigation and Dispute Resolution Institute, New York County Lawyers’ Association, 2008); “Murder, Mystery and Egon Schiele’s Dead City: Swiss Laundering of Stolen Austrian Art” (Jewish Museum, Berlin Germany); “Fritz Grunbaum’s Art Collection: Legal Obstacles to the Recovery of Stolen Art” (Prague Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets, Czech Republic); “U.S. Copyright Law for the Non-U.S. Lawyer” (Montreal and Quebec City Canada and Berlin, Germany); “Copyright Litigation” (New York County Lawyers’ Association, 2005); “International Copyright: Foreign Copyrights in U.S. Courts” (New York County Lawyers’ Association, 2008); “When Art Meets Commerce, What Happens?” (Copyright Society of the U.S.A., Boston, San Francisco and Philadelphia Chapters), Federal Bar Association (Connecticut, Minneapolis and New Orleans Chapters); and “Nazi Art Looting” (Federal Bar Association Cleveland Chapter).
Mr. Dowd is the Vice President for the Second Circuit of the Federal Bar Association, is on the Editorial Board of The Federal Lawyer Magazine and was President of Southern District of New York Chapter. Additionally, Mr. Dowd is a member of the Copyright Society of the U.S.; New York State Bar Association, Commercial and Federal Litigation Section and Intellectual Property Law Section; and New York County Lawyers’ Association where he served on the Board of Directors as Co-Chair, Entertainment Media, Intellectual Property and Sports Law Section and on the Continuing Legal Education Committee. He is also a member of the National Arts Club.
Mr. Dowd’s recent publications include Copyright Litigation Handbook, a Thomson West publication and Copyright Litigation Blog. He is a contributor of the New York Law Journal.
Mr. Dowd is admitted to practice law in New York State, the U.S. District Court for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, Northern U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York, U.S. Tax Court and U.S. Court of International Trade. Mr. Dowd Received his Bachelor of Arts from Manhattan College and his Juris Doctorate from Fordham University School of Law, where he was the Articles Editor for the Fordham International Law Journal. Mr. Dowd is fluent in French and Italian.
Ralph E. Lerner
RALPH E. LERNER is the preeminent attorney practicing full time in the field of art law. He is of counsel at Withers Bergmann
LLP and the co-author of the award-winning treatise, ART LAW: The Guide for Collectors, Investors, Dealers and Artists (First,
Second and Third Edition), acclaimed as the “industry bible” by Forbes Magazine. He has served as Chairman of the Art Law
Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, Chairman of the Fine Arts Committee of the New York State
Bar Association and Chairman of the Visual Arts Division of the American Bar Association Forum on Entertainment and Sports
Law. He is currently on the Board of the New York Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts and is a Fellow of the American College of
Trusts and Estates Counsel. Lerner is a nationally-acclaimed speaker and writer on the topic of tax-planning for collectors and
artists. He has extensive experience in dealing with the Internal Revenue Service in the broadest possible manner and numbers
among his clients many of the foremost artists, collectors and art dealers in America. He earned a BS from Bucknell University;
a JD from Boston University School of Law; and a LLM from New York University School of Law.
William G. Pearlstein
Mr. Pearlstein is experienced in a wide variety of corporate and commercial transactions and financings, including: Private
Equity Transactions; Mergers and Acquisitions; Reorganizations and Restructurings; Corporate Governance; Commercial
Transactions and Licensing of Software and Intellectual Property
Representative recent transactions:
• Represent PE funds in disposition by merger of controlling interest in food-industry software vendor
• Represent PE fund in acquisition by merger of radio traffic and billing software company
• Represent PE fund in private placement of serial preferred in a publicly-traded US trading platform
• Represent Indian pharmaceutical company in acquisition of controlling interest in a publicly-traded US pharmaceutical
company
• Corporate restructuring of privately-held international footwear company
• Post-acquisition restructuring of affiliated TV and radio traffic and billing software entities
• Represent PE fund in multiple, leveraged acquisitions of publishing assets
• Represent electronic funds processor in serial license and service agreements
He also represents leading private collectors and dealers in transactions, disputes and regulatory matters involving fine art
and antiquities, including: Acquisitions and dispositions of fine art and antiquities; Regulatory issues relating to the antiquities
market; and Authenticity disputes
Significant matters:
• Special counsel to Sotheby’s in connection with the application of The People’s Republic of China for US import restrictions
on Chinese cultural objects
• Special counsel to ARIS Corp. in connection with formulation of art title insurance policy
• Amicus Curiae brief to the US Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in US v. Schultz
• Amicus Curiae brief to the US Court of Appeals for the 4nd Circuit in ACCG v. US
Before joining GEABP in 1997, he was previously associated with Phillips Nizer Benjamin Krim & Ballon LLP; Milgrim Thomajan
& Lee PC; and Chadbourne & Parke LLP.
He received a J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law, Notes and Comments Editor, Journal of International Law &
Business,Lowden-Wigmore Prize for Student Writing and a B.A. from Yale College, English, cum laude. He is admitted to the Bar
in New York . His professional affiliations include:American Committee for Cultural Policy (President, Dir.);ARIS Corp. (Strategic
Advisory Board); Art Law Committee, New York City Bar Association; and Art and Cultural Heritage Subcommittee, ABA. His speaking engagements and publications include:
• Author, “Buying and Selling Antiquities in Today’s Market,” Spencer’s Art Law Journal, Spring 2012, http://www.artnet.com/
magazineus/news/spencer/spencers-art-law-journal.asp
• Author, “Congress, Cultural Property, Customs and the Courts,” Who Owns the Past?, American Council of Cultural Policy,
Rutgers University Press (2005)
• Author, “Claims for the Repatriation of Cultural Property: Prospects for a Managed Antiquities Market,” 28:1 Georgetown
Journal of Law & Policy in International Business (1997)
• Author, “Jeanneret v. Vichey, Sales of Illegally Exported Art Under the Uniform Commercial Code,” 6 Northwestern Journal
of International Law & Business 275 (1984)
• Panelist, Continuing Legal Education, “Visual Arts & the Law,” Sante Fe, NM, August 2004, 2005, 2008
• Panelist, Art Litigation and Dispute Resolution Institute, NY County Bar Association, November 2008
• Panelist and speaker regarding cultural property issues and art market issues
Michael McCullough
Michael McCullough is the founding member of Michael McCullough LLC, a firm focused on delivering a full range of legal
services to its core sectors of art, cultural assets and international trade. Mr. McCullough’s cultural assets and art practice
advises art collectors, galleries, auction houses, and museums on the purchase, sale, financing and international trade of fine
art, the decorative arts, cultural property and antiques. Mr. McCullough is a former Associate Counsel to Sotheby’s, Inc. where
he created that company’s compliance program on the international trade of cultural property.
Currently, Mr. McCullough is a member of the Art Law Committee of the New York City Bar Association where he serves as the
Chair of the Subcommittee on International Trade. He is also a member of the ABA’s Art & Cultural Heritage Law Committee
where he serves on the Steering Committee. Mr. McCullough is an Adjunct Lecturer at NYU in the Art Business Program
where he teaches a course on “Law and Ethics in the Art Market.”
Mr. McCullough volunteers his time to serve as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Art Connects New York, a charitable
organization that donates permanent exhibitions of contemporary artwork to social service agencies in all five boroughs of New
York City. Through the exhibition of artwork, Art Connects New York seeks to enhance the living and working environments
of the physically and mentally challenged, the homeless, immigrants and refugees, and other under-represented groups.
Art Connects New York also operates the ACNY Exhibition Space in Brooklyn dedicated to showing works from NYC-based
artists without commercial representation.
Maura Kehoe Collins
Maura Kehoe Collins, founder and director of Artiphile, is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College with a BA in Art History and
a minor in Asian Studies acquired during fourteen months of study in Taiwan and the Peoples Republic of China. During
her years at Mount Holyoke College Ms. Kehoe Collins worked as a curatorial assistant in the Mount Holyoke College
Art Museum, and as acting registrar in 1980 initiated a project to computerize the Museum’s catalogue. In post-graduate
studies Ms. Kehoe Collins was the first recipient of the C.V. Starr Fellowship for training in Far Eastern Art Conservation at
the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, a position she held for three years. A Kress Foundation grant then funded an
internship in the Eastern Pictorial Art Conservation Department of the British Museum, London, which led to a permanent
post. Ms. Kehoe Collins continued her interest in computerized documentation by representing her department on a task
force to network conservation records in all UK museums.
In 1990 Ms. Kehoe Collins switched from the public to the private sector assisting a dealer of contemporary works of art.
The association demonstrated art collectors’ need for greater access to professional advice in collections care. With twenty
years’ experience in conservation and arts administration, Ms. Kehoe Collins has applied her unique background to providing
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private collectors, institutions, and corporations access to museum-quality art collections management services. Artiphile’s
considerable network of qualified colleagues working in related fields such as conservation, framing, fine art appraisal,
insurance, etc. are called upon to partner on projects where their expertise is needed.
Ms. Kehoe Collins is currently completing a certificate program in Fine and Decorative Arts Appraisal at New York University.
Artiphile is an independent art advisory firm specializing in art collections management services and systems, established
in 1991 to promote the conscientious stewardship of cultural property. Concerned primarily with the preservation of artistic
and historic works held in collections outside museums, Artiphile implements museum-standard procedures for inventory,
registration, cataloguing, photo-documentation, storage, installation and transportation, condition surveys, loans, insurance
and appraisal needs germane to the proper maintenance of any art collection, large or small. With a focus on pro-active art
collections management policies, Artiphile services collections of all media.
Kirsten Squires
Kirsten is among a team of managers heading up the personal lines division of Cook Maran & Associates. She has worked
with clients on the East End of Long Island and in Manhattan for 20 years and holds both Property & Casualty and Life &
Health insurance licenses. Kirsten has earned the AAI designation (Accredited Advisor in Insurance) and is working towards
her CPCU (Chartered Property & Casualty Underwriter) designation. Throughout her career, Kirsten’s focus has been on
helping create comprehensive insurance programs for high net worth individuals and families. She has also served on agent
advisory councils for several insurance carriers including Chartis Private Client Group, Adirondack Insurance Exchange,
Hartford Insurance Company and Merchants Insurance Group.
Hon. Helen Freedman
Justice Helen E. Freedman was elected to the New York State Supreme Court in 1988, having served as an acting Supreme
Court Justice since 1984, and as a Civil Court Judge since 1979. She served on the Appellate Term of the Supreme Court from
1995-99. Prior to her appointment to the Appellate Division First Department by Governor David Paterson in July 2008, she was
in the Commercial Division of the New York County Supreme Court, and had been designated Presiding Judge of the Litigation
Coordinating Panel for multi-district litigation in New York State. She also managed many Mass Tort cases on a state wide basis.
Justice Freedman currently serves on the Pattern Jury Instructions Committee of the Association of Justices of the Supreme
Court of the State of New York and is a member of the New York State and Federal Judicial Council. Justice Freedman was
formerly President of the New York State Association of Women Judges and of Judges and Lawyers Breast Cancer Alert and
Co-Chair of the Mass Tort Litigation Committee.
Justice Freedman received the Louis J. Capozzoli Gavel Award in 2005 from the New York County Lawyers Association.
She also received Civil Court Distinguished Service Award for Accomplishments Enhancing the Status of Women in
the Judiciary in 2004 from the New York County Lawyers Association. Justice Freedman received an Award for Judicial
Excellence from the State Trial Judges Conference of the American Bar Association in 1998, a Smith College Medal for
“Judicial Independence” in 2000, and a “Westy Award” in 2003.
Justice Freedman was an adjunct Professor of Law at New York Law School and has lectured extensively at Judicial Seminars,
CLE Programs, national conferences, and law schools on trial and appellate practice, mass torts, ADR, commercial practice
and medical-legal issues. She is the author of New York Objections, a book on trial practice and the making of objections,
and of Law Review and other articles on mass torts, medical malpractice, ADR, and small claims. She is a graduate of Smith
College (1963) and of the New York University School of Law (1967).
Hon. Barbara Jaffe
Justice Barbara Jaffe received her BA, cum laude, from Syracuse University, as well as an MA in Italian Renaissance Art on a graduate fellowship in Florence, Italy. After six years in the wholesale antiques business, she attended Brooklyn Law School and obtained her JD. Justice Jaffe then represented indigent criminal defendants on appeal for The Legal Aid Society, successively served as principal court attorney to two Supreme Court justices in the Criminal Term, was elected to the New York City Civil Court, sat in that court and in the New York City Civil Court, and was appointed to the New York State Supreme Court, Civil Term, where she presides in an Individual Assignment Part and is specially assigned to try asbestos cases.
Justice Jaffe serves on the Executive Committee of the New York State Bar Association’s Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Section. She is a Founding Faculty member of New York County Lawyers Association’s (NYCLA) Art Litigation and Dispute Resolution Institute, and is a member of that association’s Pro Bono Committee and Supreme Court Committee, and has served on its Committee on Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, and Transgendered Issues. She co-chaired NYCLA’s Civil Court Practice Section and has lectured at numerous continuing legal education programs there and elsewhere, including the New York City Bar Association, which she represented as a delegate to the State Bar’s House of Delegates. She also served on the City Bar’s Committee on Nominations, Committee on Civil Rights, Art Law Committee, Special Committee on Capital Punishment, Committee on Civil Court, Committee on Criminal Law, and Special Committee on Public Service and Education, and chaired a joint City Bar/NYCLA committee that produced, in six languages, the “New York State Criminal Justice Handbook.”
Hon. Sherry Klein Heitler
Judge Sherry Klein Heitler attended Bronx High School of Science, Hunter College, 1965 (B.A.), New York University, 1966
(M.A.), and Fordham University School of Law, 1976 (J.D.). She was admitted to the New York State Bar in January 1977.
During the hiatus between graduate school and starting law school in 1973, she was Assistant Director of Admissions at Long
Island University, Brooklyn Campus. In 1977 she became a Law Assistant in the Civil Court of the City of New York. In 1979
she founded the law firm of Heitler & Levy, P.C. and taught Family Law at Baruch College, City University. In addition, she
was a New York City Civil Court Arbitrator, a Director of the Spingold Foundation, and served in numerous matters as either
a guardian, conservator or referee.
Justice Heitler was elected to the New York City Civil Court bench for a term beginning in January, 1994. In January, 1996
she was designated to sit as an Acting Supreme Court Justice in New York County and was elected as a Supreme Court
Justice in January, 2001. Initially she sat in a Trial Part. She was then assigned to a Matrimonial Part which involved
cases dealing with the status of the divorce, custody, equitable distribution, child support and maintenance issues of the
litigants. She sat in a Trial Assignment Part where she evaluated, settled and assigned cases to trial. Thereafter, she was
responsible for conferencing and settling various cases which were brought by or against the City of New York. She then
presided over an Individual Assignment Part in which she tried all types of cases and decided motions thereon, including
medical malpractice cases, contract cases, personal injury cases and landlord-tenant disputes. She presided over Mental
Hygiene Law Article 81 applications and conducted Mental Hygiene hearings at various hospitals in New York City. On
January 2, 2007 she was appointed to sit as an Associate Justice on the Appellate Term, Supreme Court, First Department
where she reviewed criminal and civil cases. In August 2008 she was further assigned to the Center for Complex Litigation
in respect of which she administers all asbestos-related matters in the City of New York, with an inventory of more than
30,000 cases. In December, 2009 she was appointed as Administrative Judge for Civil Matters, First Judicial District, at
which point she left the Appellate Term.
Justice Heitler has chaired and lectured at many different programs. At the New York County Lawyers Association, she has
chaired programs on Conservators, Receivers and Referees, Ethics in Government, and Joint Membership for NYCLA and
the Puerto Rican Bar Association. She co-chaired the Continuing Legal Education program for the Millennium Women’s Bar
Convention sponsored by The Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York. She has given several lectures to different
lawyers’ groups, including a symposium on the issue of Parental Relocation.
She is a member of many professional groups, including: Fordham Law Alumni Association (currently serving as Vice
President); the Association of the Bar of the City of New York; New York County Lawyers Association; New York County
Women’s Bar Association (currently serving as a Director); New York State Bar Association; National Association of Women
Judges; the Jewish Lawyers Guild (currently serving on the Board of Governors); the Judges And Lawyers Breast Cancer
Alert and the National Organization for Women. In addition, she also served in a leadership capacity for the United Jewish
Appeal, Auxiliary of Tisch Hospital and the Fordham Law School Advisory Panel. She is currently an Adjunct Professor of Law
at Fordham University School of Law
Hon. Kristin Booth Glen
Judge Booth Glen is Surrogate, New York County, elected 2006 – 2012. She has also served as an Associate Justice, Appellate
Term, First Judicial District, appointed by Matthew Crosson from 1993-1995; Justice, Supreme Court, New York County, elected
1986-1993; and Judge, Civil Court of the City of New York, elected 1981-1986. She received a BA, Stanford University, 1963
and a LLB, Columbia Law School, 1966. She is admitted to NYS, Appellate Division, First Department, 1966; Southern and
Eastern Districts of New York, 1968; U.S. Tax Court, 1970; U.S. Court of Military Appeals, 1970; U.S. Circuit Courts for the
Second, Fifth, Seventh and D.C. Circuits, 1968; and U.S. Supreme Court, 1978
Her other professional experience includes, JAMS/Endispute, Mediator & Arbitrator, 1996 to 2005; CUNY School of Law, Dean
and Professor of Law, 1995 to 2005; New York Law School, Associate Professor (1980-1981);Adjunct Professor, 1981 to 1995;
Hofstra Law School, Visiting Associate Professor, 1978 to 1981; Boies, Glen & Karle, Partner, 1971 to 1980; Rabinowitz, Boudin
& Standard, Associate, 1968 to 1971; and United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Law Clerk, 1966 to 1968.
Judge Booth Glen’s professional memberships include: Board Member, Society of American Law Teachers, 2004 to present;
Board Member, Women’s World (Women’s Organization for Rights, Literature and Development), 1999 to present; Member,
American Law Institute, 1999 to present; Fellow, New York State Bar Foundation, 1998 to present; Chair, First Judicial Department
Committee on Guardianships, 1998 to 2000; Fellow, American Bar Foundation, 1996 to present; Board Member, The Fund for
Modern Courts, 1995 to 2006; Board Member, Prisoners’ Legal Services, 1995 to present; Member, Executive Committee,
Board of Justices, New York County, 1993 to 1995; Member, Board of Overseers, Brookdale Center on Law and Aging, 1991 to
present; Advisory Board Member, Columbia Journal of Gender and Law, 1991 to present; Member, Board of Directors, Media
Access Project, Washington D.C., 1974 to 2005.
Judge Booth Glen’s publications include:
• In Defense of the PSABE abd Other “Alternative” Thoughts, 20 Georgia State Law Rev., No. 4, 2004
• The Law School in and as Community, 35 Univ of Toledo Law Rev., No. 1, 2003
• Thinking Out of the Bar Exam Bar: A Proposal to “MacCrate” Entry to the Profession, 23 Pace Law Rev., No. 2, 2003
• Introduction to the Winning Essays of the ABA/FJC Law and Aging Student Essay Competition, Sid Kress Award, 6 New
York City Law Rev., No. 2, 2003
• When and Where We Enter: Rethinking Admission to the Legal Profession, 102 Columbia Law Rev., No. 6, 2002
• Pro Bono and Public Interest Opportunites in legal Education, NYSB Journal,
• Introduction, Abrams, ed. Guardianship Practice, New York State Bar Association, 1997
• Guardianship Monitoring in Supreme Court (co-authored with Julia Spring, issued in the name of the Committee on Legal
Problems of the Aging), 49 Record of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York 604, 1994
• Roe v. Wade in Krieger (ed.), The Oxford Companion to Politics of the World, 1993
• Parents with Aids, Children with Aids, 29 Judges Journal 14, Spring 1990
• Working Women: The Subterranean World of Street Prostitution (Book Review), New York Law School Human Rights
Annual, Vol. 111, Fall 1985
• Abortion in the Courts, Hofstra Women’s Law Review, Vol. 1, No. 1, 1978
John R. Cahill
John R. Cahill is an attorney who focuses his practice on legal matters that arise in the “art world.” Mr. Cahill provides advice,
representation in litigation, and handles transactions for leading art collectors, art dealers, auction houses, art advisors, fine
art insurers, appraisers, museums, lenders, nonprofits, artists and estates. Through his New York law firm, Lynn | Cahill LLP,
he is engaged in a wide range of matters, including art title and authenticity disputes, commercial transactions concerning
fine art (sales, acquisitions, loans, etc.), intellectual property, and fine art insurance. For a number of years, Mr. Cahill served
as Senior Vice President and General Counsel of the fine art auction house now known as Phillips, de Pury & Company. Mr.
Cahill is currently the Chair of the Art Law Committee of the New York City Bar Association.
ART RELATED CASES
Richard Green (Fine Paintings) v. Doyle and Mary Alice McClendon, 08 Civ. 8496 (JGK) (S.D.N.Y.). Obtained judgment for
plaintiff art gallery of $3.7 million plus interest on motion for summary judgment due to defendants’ breach of contract to
purchase artwork. 2010 WL 3701333 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 20, 2010). Obtained monetary sanctions against one defendant and
her attorneys for their failure to comply with discovery obligations. 262 F.R.D. 284 (S.D.N.Y. 2009).
Brown v. Mitchell-Innes & Nash, 06 Civ. 7871 (PAC) (S.D.N.Y.). Obtained dismissal of action pursuant to motion to dismiss
on behalf of two defendants. 2009 WL 1108526 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 24, 2009).
Philadelphia Museum of Art v. AXA Fine Art Insurance Corporation, Case No.: RWT 10cv587 (D. Md.). Obtained dismissal of
action on behalf of defendant due to plaintiff’s failure to timely file claim for alleged physical loss of artwork insured by defendant.
Lang Goodman LLC v. Collection DOBE Fine Arts, Ltd. (Sup. Ct. N.Y. County). Obtained judgment for plaintiff art gallery of
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$450,000 plus interest following jury trial due to defendant’ s breach of contract to purchase artwork.
Reale v. Sotheby’s, Inc., 278 A.D.2d 119, 718 N.Y.S.2d 37 (1st Dep’t 2000). Granting Defendant’s motion for summary judgment
that auction house did not breach fiduciary duty or professional standards concerning sale of coin collection by Plaintiff.
Nacht v. Sotheby’s Holdings Inc., Slip Op., Index No. 100938-98 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. County April 14, 1999). Dismissing Plaintiff’s
claims for declaratory judgment, breach of contract and negligent misrepresentation, among others.
James McAndrew
In February 2011, James McAndrew joined the firm of Grunfeld, Desiderio, Lebowitz, Silverman & Klestadt LLP as a Forensic
Specialist. He brings to the firm unique experience in many facets of federal and international law, particularly in the areas of
Customs, international trade, and the international sale, acquisition and transfer of works of art and antiquity. He has already
developed advanced solutions for clients concerning issues of provenance, trade risk, collection management, and import and
export compliance. With more than 27 years as a Senior Special Agent, first with the United States Customs Service and onto
the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), he was designated as the subject matter expert in international art and antiquity
investigations as well as international trade laws and agreements. During his tenure with the U.S. Government he was primarily
responsible for the development and implementation of DHS’s international cultural property program. Under his initiatives the
program expanded from regional to international.
James MeAndrew built the platform from which DHS responded to foreign requests for investigative assistance. He designed
and implemented national initiatives focused on internet sales of art and antiquity. He developed and implemented DHS’s
national training program titled “Fighting Illicit Traffic in Cultural Property at U.S. Ports of Entry” hosted by the Smithsonian
Institution in Washington D.C. He was an active member on the U.S. Department of State’s Cultural Property Task Force and
Interpol’s Cultural Property Task Force. He also represented DHS at international conferences on the global trade in cultural
property attended by more than one hundred countries. He ultimately recovered over 2000 works of art and antiquity for
countries around the globe worth tens of millions of dollars.
James McAndrew also took the initiative to collaborate with U.S. institutions and trade professionals such as museums, auction
companies, art dealers and collectors, conservators, art historians and archaeologists, to educate them on global developments
in the art market. He advised them on issues of due diligence and better business practices.
James McAndrew was also one of DHS’s subject matter experts on Customs and international trade laws and agreements.
He was successful in protecting U.S. industry from predatory practices by foreign manufacturers from violating customs laws
and agreements such as intellectual property rights, free trade agreements, anti-dumping and countervailing duties, OFAC and
export controls, traditional trade fraud, etc. preventing millions &dollars worth of illicit merchandise from entering the commerce
of the United States.
James McAndrew was featured in numerous television, news and print media. He was the recipient of awards and commendations
from U.S. Agencies as well as foreign governments for exemplary acts. He received a BA in Criminal Justice from Iona College.
Hon. Stephen G. Crane
Hon. Stephen G. Crane (Ret.) was the Senior Associate Justice of the Appellate Division, Second Department and has served
as a Justice of the Supreme Court, New York County since 1984. Justice Crane presided as one of the New York County
Justices in the Commercial Division handling complex commercial cases from 1995 to 2001, and Administrative Judge, Civil
Branch, Supreme Court, New York County from 1996 to 2001. Widely respected for being knowledgeable, thoughtful, and
fair, Justice Crane is most comfortable in the middle of conflict, helping parties sort out their problems and reach an amicable
resolution. He is currently a Mediator at JAMS and was Voted Best Mediator, Financial Markets, New York Law Journal’s “Best
of” Survey, 2012. He is the recipient of numerous awards including the Robert L. Haig Award for Distinguished Public Service,
New York State Bar Association;
Louis J. Capozzoli Gavel Award, New York County Lawyers’ Association; Distinguished Service Award, Law Secretaries & Law
Assistants Collegium; Harold A. Stevens Jewel Award, New York County Lawyers’ Association–Tort Section; and Jack Newton
Lerner Award for Contributions to Continuing Legal Education, New York County Lawyers’ Association. He holds a J.D., with
distinction, Cornell Law School, 1963 and a B.S., Cornell University, 1960.
Judge Crane’s professional affiliations include:
• Past President, Cornell Law Association and Past Chair, Cornell Law School Advisory Council;
• Past Member, Pattern Jury Instructions Committee of the Association of Supreme Court Justices of the State of New York.
• New York County Lawyers’ Association, Co-Chair, Institute on Continuing Legal Education, Chair, History Committee,
Member, Board of Directors, Cromwell Awards Committee, Past Member: Executive Committee, Criminal Justice Section
(founding co-chair)
• New York State Bar Association, Immediate Past Chair, Committee on Civil Practice Law and Rules; Member:
Commercial and Federal Litigation Section Executive Committee, Dispute Resolution Section Executive Committee;
Former Member, House of Delegates; Fellow, New York State Bar Foundation; Member of former Commission on Legal
Services for the Middle Income
• Association of Trial Lawyers of America and New York State Trial Lawyers Association
• New York Regional Board and Executive Committee, Anti-Defamation League
• National Center for State Courts: Project Advisory Committee for A Manual for Managing Notorious Cases, 1990-1992
Association of Justices of the Supreme Court of the City of New York and Association of Justices of the Supreme Court of
the State of New York
• Member, Board of Justices, First Judicial District
• Former Chair, Board of Trustees, New York County Public Access Law Library
• Museum Memberships: The Guggenheim Museum; The Metropolitan Museum of Art; The Museum of Modern Art;
The Museum of Arts and Design; The Whitney Museum of American Art; The United States Holocaust Memorial
Museum; The Museum of Jewish Heritage; Frank Lloyd Wright Association
• Member, New York State Dispute Resolution Association
Helen Allen
Helen Allen is a strategic planning executive specializing in management and creative development with extensive art,
marketing, events and communications expertise. Named by Crain's New York Business as one of the “40 Under 40 Rising
Stars” in 2007, Helen Allen is one of the founders of (e)merge art fair, an innovative fair model that launched in Washington,
DC in September 2011. Previously, she was executive director of Ramsay Fairs for nine years and orchestrated the U.S.
introduction of the company as well as its signature event, the Affordable Art Fair. In addition, she founded and was executive
director of PULSE Contemporary Art Fair, growing it to be a leading U.S. contemporary art fair. While at Ramsay Fairs, Allen was
also produced PULSE London and consulted on the establishment of the internationally renowned Art Hong Kong.
Her professional history includes Sara Meltzer Gallery (Director), Thea Westreich Art Advisory (Research Coordinator and
Associate Advisor), and Christie’s Contemporary Art Departments in Rome and New York. She began her career in the
Communications Department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; she later served as a consultant to corporate and private
collectors and her art management and communications clients have included private collectors and national and international
companies including Charles Cowles Gallery, Ritz-Carlton Hotel Group, and Instituto Cervantes. She has also served as a
consultant to nonprofits, publishers and corporations. She is a frequent lecturer and participant on panel discussions both
locally and internationally, focusing on the market and business of contemporary art. She received a Masters of Art (M.A.)
Christie’s Education/Royal Society of Art , and a BA in Art History from Duke University.
ALLEN COOPER ENTERPRISES
Allen/Cooper Enterprises is a communications, exhibitions and events company specializing in arts and lifestyle clients. Founded
in 2011 by Helen Allen and Meryl Weinsaft Cooper, the company creates strategic management, communications and marketing
initiatives including planning, coordinating, managing and promoting media programs, social media efforts and events.
WHAT WE DO
• Strategic communications and marketing campaigns
• Consultation on business and lifestyle events/efforts
• Digital and social media strategies
• Event production and marketing
• Sponsorship facilitation and management
• Influencer engagement and outreach
Marion F. Werkheiser
Firm co-founder and managing member Marion Forsyth Werkheiser serves as a trusted strategic advisor to public, private and
nonprofit sector clients throughout the cultural heritage and preservation communities. She has counseled more than sixty enterprises
on organizational capacity-building projects, including strategic planning, board development, program evaluation, fundraising, grant
management, risk management, and government relations. A leader in cultural heritage law, Marion co-founded in 2004 the Lawyers’
Committee for Cultural Heritage Preservation and served as its inaugural vice-president. For four years she taught an upper level
seminar on international and domestic cultural property law at the College of William and Mary Law School. Prior to launching Cultural
Heritage Partners, Marion co-founded and for five years co-directed the Phoenix Project, a nationally recognized social enterprise
focused on improving business practices and sustainability of social sector organizations and preparing the next generation of social
entrepreneurs. The Phoenix Project now is part of the Center for Social Entrepreneurship at George Mason University, where Marion
serves as Senior Advisor. Marion previously practiced corporate, regulatory and international trade law in the Washington, DC office
of Baker & Daniels. She also served as a legal fellow in the office of U.S. Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN). Well-versed in grassroots and
party politics, she maintains excellent relationships with legislators and staffers on Capitol Hill and in state houses across the country.
Marion earned her J.D. from Harvard Law School and is licensed to practice law in Virginia and the District of Columbia.
She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Indiana University, where she was a Wells Scholar and earned her B.A. degree in
political science and classical civilization with an emphasis in art and archaeology. IN THE PRESS:
• “A New Niche: Alexandria Firm Practices ‘Cultural Heritage Law,’” Virginia Lawyers Weekly, Oct. 25, 2010.
MEMBERSHIPS: Expert Member, International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) Committee on Legal,
Administrative and Financial Issues; Board of Directors, SRI Foundation; American Bar Association; Virginia State Bar;
District of Columbia Bar
RECENT ENGAGEMENTS
• Represent tribal historic preservation office in advocacy to protect sacred sites.
• Advise owner of overseas cultural heritage site regarding forming a U.S. 501(c)(3) organization to raise funds and administer the site.
• Advise university foundation regarding market opportunities for programming at National Historic Landmark site.
• Represent tribal government in issues related to state recognition process.
• Provide government affairs counsel to the American Cultural Resources Association, the trade association for the cultural
resource management industry.
• Provide government affairs counsel to the Society for Historical Archaeology, the largest scholarly group concerned with the
archaeology of the modern world.
• Advise cultural resource management firm on government contracting issues, including 8(a) certification and federal agency
disputes.
• Counsel mid-sized museum on board governance and risk management issues.
• Conduct copyright and trademark analysis for for-profit educational company.
REPRESENTATIVE PUBLICATIONS
• International Cultural Property Trusts: One Response to Burden of Proof Challenges in Stolen Antiquities Litigation, 8 CHI. J.
INT’L L. 197 (2007).
• Model Jury Instructions: Removing Some of the Lynch-Pins, in PRESENTING ARCHAEOLOGY IN COURT (Sherry Hutt,
David Tarler & Marion P. Forsyth, eds., 2005). Coauthored with David Tarler.
• PRESENTING ARCHAEOLOGY IN COURT: A LEGAL GUIDE TO PROTECTION OF SITES (2005). Co-edited with Sherry
Hutt and David Tarler.
• Casualties of War: The Destruction of Iraqi Cultural Property as a Result of U.S. Action in the Gulf War, 14 DEPAUL-LCA J.
ART & ENT. L. 73 (2004).
• LEGAL PERSPECTIVES ON CULTURAL RESOURCES (2004). Co-edited with Jennifer Richman.
SELECTED PRESENTATIONS
• Program Co-Chair, Cultural Resources: Section 106, Historic Preservation & Traditional Cultural Properties, CLE International,
Washington, DC, 2012.
• Keynote Address, “High Stakes for Cultural Resources in the 2012 Election,” 18th Annual American Cultural Resources
Association Conference, Seattle, WA, 2012.
• “Preservation Law and Risk Management,” Preservation Virginia Statewide Conference, Leesburg, VA, 2012.
• “Organizational Creation and Compliance,” Social Innovation Program at George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, 2012.
• Moderator, “Training the Next Generation of Social Enterpreneurs,” Accelerating Social Entrepreneurship in the Age of Austerity,
Arlington, VA, 2011.
• “International Cultural Property Trusts,” US/ICOMOS World Bank Symposium, Washington, DC, 2010.
• Moderator, “A Fight for the Future: Art and Antiquities Crime,” Saving Antiquities for Everyone Beacon Awards, New York, 2010.
• Moderator, “How Technology is Knocking Down Doors and Fueling Social Innovation,” Accelerating Social Entrepreneurship
Conference, Washington, DC, 2009.
• “United States Cultural Heritage Law Overview,” U.S. State Department, International Visitor Program for Museum Curators,
Washington, DC, 2006.
• “U.S. Criminal ARPA Prosecutions in 2005,” Archaeology and Law Enforcement Workshop, Archaeological Institute of
America Annual Meeting, Montreal, 2006.
• Symposium Co-Chair, “Archaeology in the Courts,” Society for American Archaeology Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, 2005.
• Symposium Co-Chair, “Teaching and Ethics in the Curriculum,” Society for American Archaeology Annual Meeting, Montreal, 2004.
• “Casualties of War: The Destruction of Iraqi Cultural Property as a Result of U.S. Action in the Gulf War,” Fifth World
Archaeological Congress, Washington, DC, 2003.
L. Eden Burgess
Eden’s practice focuses on art, cultural heritage, museum and intellectual property law. She has represented foreign states,
museums, auction houses, major collectors, nonprofits and other entities, both as claimants and claim recipients, in a wide
variety of cases. She has litigated and settled complex claims involving Nazi seizures, wartime looting, forced sales and
thefts. Eden assists clients with the maintenance and management of their collections and provides advice on art and
antiquity transactions, such as auctions, purchases and sales. In addition, Eden writes and speaks about a broad range of
art, cultural heritage and museum issues, including museum governance, immunity from seizure and Nazi-looted art. She is
also interested in managing and navigating the National Historic Preservation Act’s Section 106 process, supporting historic
preservation efforts on the state and federal levels, and providing advice and representation in Indian tribe-related disputes.
Her intellectual property experience includes trial and appellate litigation in copyright, trademark and patent. Eden has also
been active in alternative dispute resolution in many types of matters. Eden obtained her Bachelor’s Degree with Distinction
from the University of Virginia, where she was an Echols Scholar, and her Juris Doctor with honors from George Washington
University Law School. She is admitted to practice in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia and a member of the ABA
and Lawyer’s Committee for Cultural Heritage Preservation. She is also a Professorial Lecturer in Law at George Washington
University Law School in Art, Cultural Heritage, and the Law.
PUBLICATIONS
• Contributing Editor, Yearbook of Cultural Property Law
• “Museum Governance Developments: Trustees Taking Greater Responsibility,” Yearbook of Cultural Property Law (2007)
• Co-Author, “Art Market” Chapter in Yearbook of Cultural Property Law (2009 and 2010)
• Contributor/Assistant, “Art Market” Chapter in Yearbook of Cultural Property Law (2006, 2007 and 2008)
REPRESENTATIVE CASES
• Vineberg v. Bissonnette, 529 F. Supp. 2d 300 (D.R.I. 2007), aff’d, 548 F.3d 50 (1st Cir. 2008). Assisted estate in recovering
Franz Xaver Winterhalter’s painting Madchen aus den Sabiner Bergen from a private collector. The case is a landmark ruling
in Holocaust-era art restitution law, being the first in the United States to find that a forced sale is a theft and therefore title
does not pass to the buyer.
• State of Baden-Württemburg v. Shene, 04-cv-10067-TPG, 2009 WL 762697 (S.D.N.Y. March 23, 2009). Represented
German state and museum in its successful recovery of a 16th century volume of prints and drawings from a St. Louis book
dealer. The decision – a rare grant of summary judgment in favor of a claimant – highlights the rule that military engaged in
overseas combat should be safeguarding and not stealing cultural objects they encounter.
• Malewicz v. City of Amsterdam, 362 F. Supp. 2d 298 (D.D.C. 2005), 2006 U.S. App. LEXIS 615 (D.C. Cir. 2006), and 517 F.
Supp. 2d 322 (D.D.C. 2007). Served as local counsel, helping pursue recovery of fourteen works of Kazimir Malewicz on loan
from the Stedelijk Museum to museums in the United States. The heirs and the City eventually settled the case.
• Doss, Inc. v. Christie’s Inc., 08-cv-10577-LAP, 2009 WL 3053713 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 23, 2009). Defended against negligence
and breach of contract claims brought by a collector related to a purchase of a painting, and successfully obtained dismissal due to the expiration of applicable statutes of limitations.
• Marchig v. Christie’s Inc., 762 F. Supp. 2d 667 (S.D.N.Y. 2011), aff’d, 2011 WL 2685608 (2d Cir. July 12, 2011). Defended
against breach of fiduciary duty, breach of warranty, negligence, and replevin and conversion claims brought by a consignor,
arising from 1998 sale of a drawing alleged by some experts to be the work of Leonardo da Vinci and worth over $100M. The
firm successfully obtained dismissal of the case due to expiration of the statutes of limitations and unreasonable delay.
• Wyers v. Master Lock Co., 616 F.3d 1231 (Fed. Cir. 2010). Represented Master Lock Corporation before the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Federal Circuit on appeal of lower court’s ruling against Master Lock that the three patents at issue were valid
as a matter of law. The Federal Circuit reversed, and issued a significant precedential opinion in Master Lock’s favor that
interpreted the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion in KSR v. Teleflex, expanding the Court’s application of common sense as a
motivation to combine prior art references to invalidate patents.
• United States v. Six Paintings Seized From Paul Gorzocoski III, d/b/a Northfield Auctions, Civ. Act. No. 08-10161-RWZ (D.
Mass. 2008). Assisted claimant in recovering six paintings discovered at an auction house in Massachusetts, missing from
the Bavarian State Painting Collection (BSPC) since the mid-1940s. The paintings – acquired by BSPC in 1799 and never
deaccessioned – were described by the auction house as coming from the estate of a World War II veteran.
• Bakalar v. Vavra, 619 F.3d 136 (2d Cir. 2010). On behalf of a group of non-profit organizations as amici, submitted a brief
seeking to reverse the lower court’s ruling based upon its incorrect interpretation and application of Swiss law. The Second
Circuit vacated the district court judgment on other grounds and remanded the case.
• In the Matter of Certain Flooring Products, Investigation No. 337-TA-443 and Alloc, Inc. v. International Trade Commission, 342
F.3d 1361 (Fed. Cir. 2003). Represented respondent in an action before the International Trade Commission and appeal to the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, in which complainants sought to prevent import of flooring products due to patent
infringement. The ITC found no infringement by the respondents, and the Federal Circuit affirmed.
SEMINARS & SPEECHES
• “Art Looting in the Third Reich” (March 14, 2012)
• “What is Art and Cultural Property Law?” (March 23, 2011)
• “What is Art Law? Art, Cultural Property and Museum Law and Practice” (October 21, 2009)
• “Art and Cultural Property Displaced by War and Other Conflict,” George Washington Museum Studies Program (March
2008, March 2009, April 2010 and March 2011)
• “The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act as Applied to Recent Art Restitution Disputes,” The Program on Information Justice
and Intellectual Property, American University Washington College of Law (October 8, 2007) (Co-presenter)
IN THE PRESS
• Featured in the June 2009 issue of Legal Bisnow
• Featured in “Lost and Found: Alumni Help Return Stolen Art and Cultural Artifacts,” Colonial Cable, George Washington
University (November 2011)
Hon. Delissa A. Ridgway
Delissa A. Ridgway was sworn in as a Judge of the U.S. Court of International Trade in May 1998. The Court of International
Trade – which is based in New York – is a nine-member Article III federal trial court with exclusive nationwide jurisdiction over
disputes involving the interpretation and application of U.S. customs and international trade laws.
Prior to her appointment to the Court, Judge Ridgway served as Chair of the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission of the
U.S. (“FCSC”), a three-member international tribunal responsible for adjudicating claims by U.S. nationals against foreign
sovereigns. FCSC accomplishments during her tenure included the Holocaust Survivors Claims Program, the Albanian Claims
Program, and the completion of the Iran Claims Program.
Before her 1994 appointment to the FCSC by President Clinton, Judge Ridgway was a member of the International Practice
Group at Shaw Pittman (now Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman) in Washington, D.C. She is a recognized authority in the
areas of international commercial law, international transactions, and international commercial arbitration and litigation, and
has published and lectured widely.
Judge Ridgway has been an Adjunct Professor of Law on the international law faculties of Cornell Law School and American
University’s Washington College of Law in Washington, D.C. In addition, she frequently serves as a consultant/lecturer for
international rule of law development and capacity-building programs sponsored by entities including the United Nations, the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the Council of Europe, the U.S. Department of State, the U.S.
Department of Commerce, the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, the Agency for International Development, the U.S. Information
Agency, and the American Bar Association. She has lectured and led seminars and workshops for judges, lawyers, law
professors, lawmakers, and business leaders on a broad spectrum of subjects, ranging from international commercial arbitration
and litigation, international business transactions, intellectual property rights, customs and international trade law, the World
Trade Organization, and specialized courts, to administrative law, alternative dispute resolution (“ADR”), human rights, women’s
rights, legal ethics and discipline, judicial ethics and discipline, legal writing, judicial opinion writing, legal education, judicial
education, case management techniques and technology, judicial independence, development of bar associations and civil
society, bench-bar cooperation, overview of the U.S. legal system and legal profession, and overview of the U.S. court system.
Through her work, Judge Ridgway has traveled widely, in North America, South America, Scandinavia, Western and Eastern
Europe, Asia (including Pakistan, Vietnam, and Cambodia), Australia, and Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as in the Middle East/
North Africa (“MENA”) region and the Gulf (including Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco,
Oman, Qatar, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen). Judge Ridgway also has extensive experience in media
relations, including both print and electronic media, in the U.S. and abroad. Her national radio and TV appearances in this
country have included NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, and C-Span, as well as NPR.
Judge Ridgway is a member of the American Law Institute and a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, with a history
of leadership in bar and community activities. She has served for more than a decade on the National Council of the
Federal Bar Association, is a past Chair of both the FBA’s Public Relations and Government Relations Committees, has held
national office in both the FBA International Law and Administrative Law Sections, and is a charter Fellow of the Federal
Bar Foundation. She currently serves on the Board of the Federal Bar Building Corporation (“FBBC”). Judge Ridgway also
is a member of both the Board of Directors of the American Judicature Society and the American Bar Foundation Fellows
Research Advisory Committee. A past Chair (2009-2010) of the ABA Judicial Division’s National Conference of Federal Trial
Judges (“NCFTJ”) (the national association that represents the interests of all federal trial judges in the United States), she
served for seven years on the NCFTJ’s Executive Committee, and is a former member of the ABA’s Standing Committee on
Federal Judicial Improvements. She currently serves on the Council of the ABA Section of International Law, and as Liaison
to both the ICC International Court of Arbitration and the Secretary of State’s Advisory Committee on Private International
Law. A former member of the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession, Judge Ridgway is now Co-Chair of the ABA
Section of Litigation’s Task Force on Implicit Bias in the Justice System. In addition, she serves as a Delegate to the United
Nations representing the National Association of Women Lawyers, and is a member of the Council on International Affairs
of the New York City Bar. She formerly served on the Advisory Board of the ABA Central European and Eurasian/Middle
East-North Africa Law Initiative (“CEELI-MENA”). Further, Judge Ridgway served for seven years on the Board of Governors
of the 65,000-member District of Columbia Bar, and is a past Secretary of the organization. She also served as President
(1992-93) of the 2,000-member Women’s Bar Association of D.C., and on the Boards of various charitable organizations. In
addition, Judge Ridgway chaired the D.C. Bar Summit on Women in the Profession and was a founding member of the Board of Directors of the D.C. Conference on Opportunities for Minorities in the Profession, as well as President (1997-98) of the
Charlotte E. Ray American Inn of Court.
Judge Ridgway was named Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence for 2003 by the University of Missouri. In addition, she
was honored as Washington, D.C.’s “Woman Lawyer of The Year” for 2001, and was also the 2000 recipient of the Earl W.
Kintner Award – the Federal Bar Association’s highest honor – for “outstanding achievement, distinguished leadership, and
continuing participation” in bar activities nationwide. Her many other honors include the D.C. Bar’s Frederick B. Abramson
Award, conferred on her in 1996, “in recognition of extraordinary service to the profession,” as well as her 1997 recognition
by the FBA as one of four “Distinguished Women in International Law,” an honor she shared with then-First Lady Hillary
Rodham Clinton, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and Singleton McAllister, General Counsel of the U.S. Agency
for International Development.
Judge Ridgway is a 1975 honors graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia, where she completed coursework for an
M.S. in Community/International Development. She received her law degree from Northeastern University School of Law
in 1979, and is currently a candidate for an LL.M. in Judicial Studies (expected 2014) from Duke University School of Law.
Darlene Fairman
Darlene Fairman is Counsel with the law firm of Herrick, Feinstein LLP, where she has practiced since 1994. Darlene’s
practice includes a wide range of civil litigation with recent emphasis on complex commercial and real estate litigation in New
York’s state and federal courts. Representative matters include:
• Successful litigation to preserve the lien of a mortgagee whose borrower was revealed to be the knowing recipient of a
fraudulent transfer of the mortgaged property.
• Representation of the owner of a former inactive hazardous waste site in connection with litigation over a seawall built at
the site and the sale of the property.
• Representation of a nationally recognized, private sector firm with more than 35 years of experience in developing and
managing high-quality affordable housing, including more than 100 communities affordable to lower income families through
federal assistance programs, and more than 70 communities affordable to working families through the low income housing
tax credit program in a dispute with the New York City Housing Authority.
• Litigation of a partnership dispute involving the sale of six low income housing developments.
• Representation of the Real Estate Board of New York in its successful lawsuit against the New York City Council to overturn
Local Law 79 on the grounds of preemption by federal and state housing laws.
• Successful representation of a developer in litigation over its right to convert a building it purchased from office/retail use to
mixed office/retail and residential use.
Since 1994, Darlene has also been an active member of Herrick’s art law practice. Beginning with the successful representation
of the Republic of Turkey in recovering the “Elmali Hoard” of rare and valuable ancient silver coins, Darlene has represented
Turkey in matters seeking the return of looted cultural property. In addition, she has represented the heirs of the worldrenowned
Russian artist Kazimir Malevich in their litigation against the City of Amsterdam to reclaim artworks created by their
ancestor. This litigation was successfully settled in April 2008 when the City of Amsterdam returned five Malevich paintings
to the heirs. Darlene is actively involved in Holocaust looted art matters including the ongoing representation of Marei von
Saher in her efforts to recover hundreds of Nazi-looted artworks from the collection of her father-in-law, the renowned Dutch
art collector and dealer, Jacques Goudstikker. Additionally, she has represented art dealers and galleries in various matters
and successfully represented a jewelry designer in a copyright dispute. Since its inception in 2009, Darlene has been the
Editor-in-Chief of Art & Advocacy, Herrick’s triannual art law news letter.
Judith Bresler
Counsel at Withers Worldwide, practices in the field of Art Law, representing all elements of the art market, and is co-author of
the award-winning treatise, ART LAW: The Guide for Collectors, Investors, Dealers and Artists (First, Second, Third and Fourth
Editions), acclaimed as the “industry bible” by Forbes magazine and the “standard text” by the Wall Street Journal. She is also
co-author of the paperback books, All About… Rights for Visual Artists and All About…Tax Tips for Collectors.
Judith has taught art law as a member of the adjunct faculties of both New York Law School and the University of
Pennsylvania Law School, as well as a senior faculty member of the Sotheby’s Institute of Art. She is General Counsel
to the Appraisers Association of America as well as on its Advisory Committee, a federal and state-appointed mediator
and an arbitrator with the American Arbitrators Association. She is a former Chair of the Entertainment, Art and Sports
Law Section (EASL) of the New York State Bar Association, a former Chair of the Art Law Committee of EASL, cofounder
and former Co-Chair of the ADR Committee of EASL, co-founder and currently co-Chair of the Phil Cowan/BMI
Memorial Scholarship Committee, and a member of the Art Law Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of
New York. Ms. Bresler lectures and publishes extensively on all aspects of the art market and is a three-time winner of
the Otto L. Walter Award for Distinguished Writing.
Christine Lepera
Christine Lepera focuses her practice on the entertainment and media industries, as a litigator and strategic advisor. Christine’s
practice covers the landscape of entertainment/media disputes and issues, including copyright infringement, music plagiarism,
unfair competition, defamation, right of publicity, and contract and commercial disputes. Christine has represented many leading
entertainers and entertainment/media companies, including those mentioned in the representative matters below. Christine is a
commentator and author on relevant entertainment subjects, and speaks regularly at industry conferences and bar association
events, such as South by Southwest, The Cutting Edge, The ABA Forum on the Entertainment and Sports Industries, The
Copyright Society of the U.S.A., and the Intellectual Property Owners Association, She received a J.D. summa cum laude from
New York Law School, and a B.A. summa cum laude from Drew University. She is admitted in New York; USDC, Eastern District
of New York; USDC, Southern District of New York; U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit; and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Representative Matters
• Reach Music Publishing, Inc., et al. v. Warner/Chappell Music Inc., et al., United States District Court for the Southern
District of New York. Obtained dismissal (2010) on behalf of music publishers of claims by songwriter and music publisher
of copyright co-ownership in certain musical compositions originally recorded by Run-D.M.C., and defeated motion to
dismiss (2011) counterclaims against Plaintiffs for breach of contract and tortious interference with contract.
• Lukasz Gottwald p/k/a Dr. Luke, et al. v. Christina S. Jones p/k/a Chrissy, et al., United States District Court for the
Southern District of New York. Won judgment (2011) on behalf of Kesha and Dr. Luke holding their hit song “Tik Tok” is not
infringing on defendants’ composition.
• Lukasz Gottwald p/k/a Dr. Luke, et al. v. David M. Bellamy, Homer Howard Bellamy, and Bellamy Brothers Music, United
States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division (2011). Successfully represented Dr. Luke and Max
Martin in copyright related litigation involving Britney Spears’ “Hold It Against Me.”
• Clement Brown, Jr. v. DeAndre Cortez Way p/k/a Soulja Boy, et al., United States District Court for the Eastern District of
Michigan, Southern Division. Won motion to dismiss case (2011) involving trademark infringement claims against Soulja
Boy and other defendants.
• Jay Brian Ballard and Kim Jones v. Mary J. Blige, et al., United States District Court for the Central District of California
(2010). Successfully represented Mary J. Blige and other defendants in copyright infringement litigation involving Blige’s
“Take Me As I Am.”
• Osama Ahmed Fahmy v. Jay-Z (aka Shawn Carter), et al., United States District Court for the Central District of California,
Western Division. Defeated summary judgment motion (2011) on behalf of Defendants, including Tim Mosely p/k/a
“Timbaland” and Jay-Z in connection with copyright infringement claim involving the hit song “Big Pimpin’.”
• Anger Management & Entertainment, Inc. v. Gregory Tribett, et al., Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois. Obtained
summary judgment (2010) for the band Mudvayne on a breach of fiduciary duty claim against the band’s ex-manager.
• Christopher S. Chapman v. Universal Motown Records Group, et al., United States District Court for the Southern
District of New York. Won summary judgment (2010) for Defendants, including Joseph Cartagena p/k/a Fat Joe, on music
plagiarism case involving hit song “Lean Back.”
• BMS Entertainment/Heat Music LLC, et al. v. Christopher Bridges, et al., United States District Court for the Southern
District of New York. Obtained jury verdict (2006) on behalf of recording artists and songwriters Christopher Bridges p/k/a
Ludacris and Kanye West, and music publisher EMI April Music in music copyright infringement case involving the 2003 hit
single “Stand Up” written by Ludacris and Kanye West, which appears on Ludacris’ album “Chicken-n-Beer.”
• Microhits Music Corp., et al. v. Arista Records, Inc., et al., United States District Court for the Central District of California.
Won summary judgment (2006) on behalf of songwriters and performing and recording artists Antwan Patton and Andre
Benjamin, p/k/a Outkast in a declaratory judgment action in which plaintiffs claimed joint copyright ownership in certain of
Outkast’s recordings and compositions on their multi-platinum, award-winning album entitled “Speakerboxxx / Love Below.”
• R. Kelly, et al. v. Shawn Carter, et al., Supreme Court of New York, New York County. Won summary judgment (2005) on
behalf of Shawn Carter p/k/a Jay Z and his production company, Marcy Projects Productions, on tortious interference claims
asserted against them by Robert Kelly p/k/a R. Kelly based upon Kelly’s alleged improper termination from the artists’ “Best
of Both Worlds” Tour in 2004.
• Jean v. Bug Music, Inc., Obtained summary judgment (2002) for Wyclef Jean in copyright infringement action involving
Whitney Houston’s recording of “My Love is Your Love.”
Chris Robinson
Chris Robinson practices intellectual property and art law, as well as general commercial litigation. A former art dealer, he has
an intimate knowledge of the art world. He has extensive experience in copyright and gray-market goods litigation and his
practice includes trademark and unfair competition, false advertising, and patent appellate work. Chris also practices before the
United States Patent and Trademark Office and its Trademark Trial and Appeal Board and the National Advertising Division,
and represents clients in arbitrations before the World Intellectual Property Organization. Chris’ clients include: Getty Images,
Random House, Simon & Schuster, Viacom, Conde Nast Publications, Ford Foundation, Judd Foundation, and the Private Art
Dealers Association. He received a B.A., Modern History from University of Oxford; pursued course work in 19th Century Painting
at London University, Courtauld Institute of Art; received a M.A., Modern History, University of Oxford; and a J.D., Fordham
University School of Law where he was Editor-in-Chief, Fordham Law Review. His professional and community activities include
Art Law Committee, New York City Bar Association; Committee on Fine Arts, New York State Bar Association; Intellectual
property counsel for Artnet Worldwide Corp.; and General Counsel, Private Art Dealers Association (PADA).
Representative Experience:
• CarFreshner v. Getty Images: Defended Getty Images in a trade dress infringement action alleging photographic images
in the company’s database depicting plaintiff’s tree-shaped car freshener products constituted infringement of its product
configuration trademark. After Court granted Getty Images’ motion to dismiss, in part, successfully resolved the matter
without any finding of liability, by making an offer of judgment. (N.D.N.Y. 2012)
• Hart v. Electronic Arts, Inc.: Lead counsel representing Electronic Arts in defense of a putative class action brought by Hart,
a former college quarterback, on behalf of all college football players, arising out of the purported use of their likenesses in
EA’s successful NCAA Football video game series. The federal District Court in New Jersey granted EA’s motion for summary
judgment and dismissed the action, finding that the video games were entitled to full First Amendment protection. 2011 WL
4005350 (D.N.J. Sept. 9, 2011). Related actions arising out of Electronic Arts’ “NCAA Football and Madden Football” video
games are currently before the 9th Circuit. Hart v. Electronic Arts, Inc. is on appeal to the 3rd Circuit.
• Narkiewicz-Laine v. Doyle, et al.: Representing artist in action alleging violations of Visual Arts Rights Act, conversion and
wrongful eviction. (Ongoing)
• Recrutor v. Australia & New Zealand Bank
• Ed Darack v. Random House: Copyright infringement action; dispute over use of photograph on cover of book. (S.D.N.Y. 2010)
• Scott v. Hachette Publishing: Obtained pre-discovery dismissal of copyright claims arising out of author Stephanie Meyer’s
last book in her famed “Twilight” series. Attorney fees awarded to defendants. (C.D. Cal. 2010)
• SwordPen.com v. Henry Holt and Company: Successfully defended publisher and co-author of novel against claims of
fraudulent inducement, conversion and tortious interference by plaintiff who alleged that novel plagiarized plaintiff’s manuscript.
Case was dismissed. 2010 WL 1932322 (S.D.N.Y. 2008)
• Surf City Enterprises v. The Daily Orange, et al.: First Amendment defense for a student publication against allegations of
defamation. Case settled. (Sup. Ct. Onondaga Cty. 2009)
• Lucasfilm Ltd. v. Ainsworth, et al.: Drafted expert opinion at the request of defendants on U.S. intellectual property issues
with respect to a 2008 lawsuit in the United Kingdom High Court alleging infringement of copyrights and trademarks in
costumes for the movie ‘Star Wars.’ (2008)
• Walker v. Viacom International Inc., et al.Obtained summary judgment in favor of defendants creator, animation studio,
distributor and licensor of franchised animated cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants and television series in copyright
infringement case involving claims of stand-alone character protection and story line infringement; 9th Circuit affirmed. 2008
WL 2050964 (N.D. Cal, May 13, 2008), 2010 WL 236758 (9th Cir. 2008)
• Alper v. Dean Hamer and Random House, Inc.: Defended the author and publisher of the book ‘The God Gene’ in a
copyright infringement action. Obtained dismissal of claim. (S.D.N.Y. 2007)
• Landrau, et al. v. Solis-Betancourt, Advance Magazine Publishers, et al.: Obtained dismissal of novel copyright and trademark
claims brought by architect arising out of feature in “Architectural Digest.” 554 F. Supp. 2d 114 (D.P.R. 2007)
• Mikhail Anikin v. Random House and Dan Brown: Defended copyright infringement case against Dan Brown and Random
House in which a curator at the Hermitage and the author of a Russian work on Da Vinci claimed Brown copied his phrase ‘Da
Vinci Code’ and his analysis of the Mona Lisa. 3:07-cv-00697 (D. Tenn. and Russian court 2007)
• Shine v. David M. Childs and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill: Represented architectural firm that designed original Freedom
Tower in action involving alleged copyright infringement of architectural design of Yale architecture student. Settled after
motion to dismiss granted in part. 382 F. Supp. 2d 602 (S.D.N.Y. 2006)
• Novartis Animal Health US, Inc. v. Abbeyvet Export Ltd.: One of several injunctions and extensive sanctions won in campaign
in Southern District of New York against online sellers of grey-market pet medicines via the Internet. (2005)
Ann Lydecker
Ann Lydecker is an active and established member of New York’s vibrant Art Industry. Prior to joining Cirkers and Hayes Fine
Art Storage & Logistics as Director of Worldwide Sales, she founded Metropolitan Art Advisors. She hold a B.A. in Art History
and French from Simmons College and is working on an M.S. at HU extension in environmental Science at Harvard University.
