We advise our domestic and international clients on a broad spectrum of legal needs, including: estate and tax planning; business succession issues; litigated Surrogate's Court cases; trust and estate administration; lifetime transfers of wealth; and private foundations. We handle many of our clients' tax issues, including controversies with the Internal Revenue Service and other taxing authorities.
Paul, Weiss Wins Appeal for the Andrew Lloyd Webber Art Foundation
- Client News
- August 12, 2009
Practices
Paul, Weiss won a major victory in the New York Appellate Division, First Department for our client The Andrew Lloyd Webber Art Foundation in a dispute involving Pablo Picasso's Blue-Period painting "Portrait de Angel Fernández de Soto" aka "The Absinthe Drinker" (1903).
Plaintiff Julius H. Schoeps, a German citizen, alleged that his great uncle Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy had sold the painting in Nazi Germany in 1935 as the result of economic duress. The painting was purchased by the Foundation at a highly publicized Sotheby's auction in 1995. In November 2006, the Foundation planned to sell the painting at auction at Christie's to raise proceeds in furtherance of the Foundation's charitable objectives, including scholarships in the theatrical arts.
Plaintiff first filed his claims in federal court on the eve of the auction, causing the painting to be withdrawn from auction. The claim, which had never been asserted prior to the lawsuit, was criticized by leading figures in the art restitution community, including Sarah Jackson of the Art Loss Registry, as a disservice to legitimate claimants.
After Paul, Weiss succeeded in getting the federal action dismissed for want of federal subject matter jurisdiction, plaintiff refiled his claims in New York state court. We again moved to dismiss plaintiff's claims, arguing, among other reasons, that plaintiff -- who purports to be one of many heirs of Bartholdy -- lacked standing to bring the claim. The trial court granted the Foundation's motion, ruling that plaintiff did not have standing to bring his action because he had not been appointed a personal representative of Bartholdy's estate. The trial court's decision was unanimously affirmed by the First Department yesterday in a detailed opinion rejecting all of plaintiff's arguments that he should be permitted to pursue the claim in his personal capacity as a purported heir. Former litigation partner Carey Ramos argued the appeal on behalf of the Foundation.
The Paul, Weiss team also included personal representation partner Alan Halperin and litigation partner Walter Rieman; litigation associates Darren Johnson and Rob Schuwerk; personal representation associate Lindsay O'Donnell; former litigation associate Joanna Summerscales; and paralegal Eric Rosoff.