This article originally ran on Law360 (subscription required) on April 16, 2024. All rights reserved.
Flaster Greenberg PC is launching an art industry group that will bring together its litigation, transportation and insurance law talent, saying Monday that the new team will protect collectors from loss or damage to artwork on display, in transportation or in storage.
Shareholder Chris Merrick told Andrea Keckley, Law360 reporter:
"I think what she had the foresight to see is that a lot of us at the firm were doing work related to collectors of fine art, people in the fine art space, auction houses, companies that store and transport art — and we had never come together and said, 'why don't we find a way to help all of our clients with all the different issues that come up?'" he told Law360 Pulse on Tuesday.
"It's kind of embryonic at this point," Merrick said of the new group, "and we're just hoping to really be able to offer something to the clients that a lot of other folks don't, and we're going to figure it out as we go."
"When I lived in D.C. as an intern, [I] didn't have a lot of money, and I was working for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee," he recalls. "So I would go. It's free to go in. You can walk around. And I just remember loving [and] enjoying the stories behind a lot of the art."
"I think it's really nice that we've all come together to be able to form a formal practice group to be able to do more for our clients," Merrick said. "People focus on acquiring the piece, but not necessarily on what comes next. And I think that's where we can really be a help."
