Happy holidays from Amineddoleh & Associates LLC. We had a busy and exciting year working on many matters with our valued clients and colleagues. Below are just a few of the law firm’s highlights:

• We advised museums, including the work of negotiating the return of antiquities to a foreign nation, due to ownership concerns. We counseled other institutions on due diligence for acquisition procedures, provenance research, long-term planning, fundraising, and Board of Trustees considerations.  

• We advised an artist’s foundation for authentication and ownership issues.

• We continued to represent the Greek Ministry of Culture before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, as we appealed for a reversal of the Southern District of New York’s decision. We were joined in our appeal by amici, Italian Ministry of Culture, the Mexican Ministry of College, the Cyprus Ministry of Culture, the Hellenic College, and the Antiquities Coalition.

• We successfully represented artists, including drafting an agreement for a multi-million dollar public art commission, negotiations of sales, and agreements for theatre and television productions.

• We advised a Brooklyn condominium association to establish an art exhibition space in its luxury building.  

• We worked with a growing number of entrepreneurs, helping them to cost-effectively incorporate, establish businesses, and meet their financial goals. Also, we have worked with non-profit organizations to meet their charitable purposes.

• We continue to represent buyers and sellers of luxury items, musical instruments, wine, and valuable works of art, including items deemed to be cultural property.

Additionally, we individually had a prosperous 2019.

Leila Amineddoleh had a very gratifying year. She continued teaching courses at Fordham University School of Law and New York University, and she enjoyed many speaking engagements. This year, Leila had the honor of speaking at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the National Arts Club in Manhattan, the University of North Carolina, and Christie’s Education in New York. She also served as the moderator for “Your Art Collection and the Law” for Harvard Business School. She was also deeply honored to present lectures for foreign delegates for the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. She will next be presenting a lecture at the Frick Collection this upcoming February.

Leila has also been quite busy publishing both academic and informational articles, in sources such as US News & World Report. Next year, look for her chapter, “Legal Implications of Provenance Reports” in a publication about provenance. She will also have an academic work published in the North Carolina Journal of International Law Symposium. This year Leila was also featured in CNN, Delayed Gratification: the Slow Journalism Magazine, the New York Times, and Hyperallergic.

Leila continues serving as a cultural heritage law expert for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit. Her research was used for the repatriation of multiple objects, including items returned to Egypt and Italy.

Claudia Quinones has had a busy year working on international matters and academic art law research. She published an article on European Union cultural heritage legislation and policy in the Santander Art and Culture Law Review (SAACLR), where she also acts as an English Language Editor. This article was a modified version of her graduate thesis, which she defended in March 2019 and received with honors. Claudia is an active member of The International Art Market Studies Association (TIAMSA) and spoke at the annual conference in Lisbon. Her presentation focused on the concept of due diligence in relation to the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention. She also contributes regularly to the TIAMSA blog and reports on global art law events, such as the Art Market Day in Paris hosted by Le Quotidien de l’Art. Other publications include the encatc\SCHOLAR newsletter and the German Arbitration Journal.