Arbitration, Facilitation and Mediation for Art Market Disputes
DRAFT – not published. This article is a working draft for review.
Art disputes are not ordinary commercial disputes. The value of a work can turn on a single document in its provenance, an attribution that shifted decades ago, or a transfer that crossed three borders. The people deciding these disputes should understand that world from the inside.
Background
I served as EVP & Global General Counsel of Sotheby's, where I dealt firsthand with high-value art transactions, provenance and authenticity questions, cross-border ownership disputes, and the legal and compliance issues raised by NFTs and cryptocurrency. Before that, I was SVP Legal and General Counsel at Tenneco and SVP, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at Federal-Mogul Powertrain, overseeing legal and compliance operations around the world. I'm a Michigan-licensed attorney.
Services
DeSanto Arbitration offers arbitration, facilitation and mediation.
DeSanto Arbitration can manage fully remote arbitration, facilitation and mediation sessions and hearings, scheduled around the parties' calendars, so disputes move without travel costs or long waits for a hearing date.
- Arbitration: a private, confidential, binding decision from a neutral who knows the market.
- Mediation: a structured path to a negotiated outcome that protects relationships and reputations.
- Facilitation: helping parties and counsel design a process that fits the dispute, from the clause to the hearing.
Disputes covered
- Authenticity and attribution
- Provenance and title
- Consignment and dealer agreements
- Auction disputes, including guarantees and post-sale claims
- NFT and digital art
- Cross-border ownership and restitution claims
Why it's different
Most neutrals bring legal skill or market knowledge. Few bring both, plus years running the compliance side of a global auction house. That combination changes how quickly the real issues surface, which questions get asked, and which pitfalls get avoided. I also put agentic AI to full use on the administration and processing of every matter. The result is a faster, cleaner and more efficient process, so the parties get to the right outcome sooner.
For contract claims, that means very quick resolutions, whether by award or settlement, through a practical, pragmatic application of the law that drives to the correct result.
How that plays out depends on the dispute, and that's the conversation worth having.
Contact
If you're a party or counsel facing an art market dispute, or drafting the clause that will govern one, I'd welcome a confidential conversation.
This article is general information only and is not legal advice.