Art Law Conference 2022
“Say Art Law!”
by Sofia Tomilenko/Софія Томіленко.
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LOCATION:
New York Law School (NYLS) NYC and Online
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DATE:
Thursday, July 28, 2022 1 p.m. – 6 p.m.
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RECEPTION:
6 p.m. – 8 p.m.

Center for Art Law was pleased to host its 2022 Art Law Conference in New York City!
Reception for networking and reunion followed the substantive portion of the day from 6 PM – 8 PM. Our conference celebrated exciting and contemporary topics on all things art and law, including:
- Immigration Law and Asylum for Artists;
- Thinking Creatively about Estate and Legacy Planning for Artists; and
- Artist-Dealer Relationships in 21st Century.
- The conference will feature a keynote presentation on KleptoCapture task force and Anti-Money Laundering efforts concerning the art market.
The themes explored in Art Law Conference 2022 were based on the Center for Art Law’s Legal Clinics. The evening included an art tour highlighting the collection of artwork at New York Law School, including works from artists such as Emilio Sanchez and Keith Haring, among several others (including New York Law School alumni and professors)!
Program
The themes explored in Art Law Conference 2022 are based on the Center for Art Law’s Legal Clinics. In addition, a reception will be held following the final panel in honor of Judith Bresler, a recognized leader in the field and a co-author of the seminal Art Law treatise, after whom the Center launched the Judith Bresler Fellowship in 2021. The evening will conclude with an art tour highlighting the collection of artwork at New York Law School, including works from artists such as Emilio Sanchez and Keith Haring, among several others (including New York Law School alumni and professors!)
Reception for networking and reunion will follow the substantive portion of the day.
Schedule
1:00PM – Conference Check in opens & Special Tours of the NYLS Art Collection Featuring Emilio Sanchez Paintings
1:45 PM – Welcome Remarks
2:00PM – Keynote Address: Andrew Adams, Director, Task Force “KleptoCapture”
2:30PM – Panel 1: Immigrants, Political Refugees, Artists: Legal lessons from Asylum Work and Afghan Artists
Moderator: Rakhel Milstein, founder and CEO, Milstein Law Group
Speakers:
- Sanjay Sethi, Co-Executive Director Artistic Freedom Initiative
- Lesley Rosenthal, Chief Operating Officer and Corporate Secretary, The Juilliard School; author of Good Counsel: Meeting the Legal Needs of Nonprofits (John Wiley & Sons 2012)
- Mohamed Khelif (Hammadi Khelifi), writer from Tunisia; attorney, Refugee Translation Project
3:30PM – Coffee Break
3:45PM – Panel 2: Sunrise/Sunset: Alternative Strategies for Estate and Legacy Planning for Artists
Moderator: Hanoch Sheps, CfAL Advisor; Associate, Mazzola Lindstrom LLP
Speakers:
- Ann Koll, artist and artist estate legacy advisor; Former Executive Director and Curator of the Emilio Sanchez Foundation
- Erik J. Stapper, Trustee, Emilio Sanchez Foundation; Senior Counsel, Davidson, Dawson & Clark LLP
- Ellen J. Epstein, Appraiser AARC Group
4:45PM – Panel 3: Artist – Dealer Relationships in the 21st Century
Moderator: Olivia Taylor (UCLA, Class 2022); CfAL Advisor; incoming Associate, Withers LLP
Speakers:
- Elena Zavelev, Co-Founder and CEO, CADAF
- Sasha Stiles, Poet, Artist, AI Researcher
- Yaél M. Weitz, Counsel, Kaye Spiegler PLLC
5:45PM – Closing Remarks: L. Eden BURGESS, Of Counsel, Schindler Cohen & Hochman LLP
6:00PM – 8:00PM – Art Tours and Reception
Speakers:
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Sanjay Sethi
Co-Executive Director, Artistic Freedom Initiative
Sanjay SethiCo-Executive Director, Artistic Freedom Initiative
Sanjay Sethi serves as AFI’s Co-Executive Director, overseeing coordination of its advocacy programs and legal services. For the last 15 years, Mr. Sethi has dedicated his career to public service and international human rights. Mr. Sethi has an extensive background in non-profit management, earning a Nonprofit Management Executive Certificate from Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy.
Mr. Sethi is the co-founder of Sethi & Mazaheri, LLC, a law firm dedicated to immigration and asylum law. He is also a former prosecutor and served as a law clerk in criminal court for the Superior Court of New Jersey.
Mr. Sethi’s commitment to human rights is rooted in his experience at the United Nations Children’s Fund in Moscow, Russia, and at the Columbia University Public Interest Law Initiative in Budapest, Hungary. He received his BA in economics from Northwestern University, his MA in International Affairs from Columbia University and his JD from University of Miami School of Law. He is admitted to practice law in New York, New Jersey, and Washington DC.
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Mohamed Khelifi (Hammadi Khlifi)
Mohamed Khelifi, (Hammadi Khlifi) is a law graduate and writer from Tunisia. He holds a degree from Penn State University and Carthage University. He worked in several human rights organizations in Tunisia and New York such as the World Federalist Movement/Institute for Global Policy, the World Organization Against Torture and I Watch Organization/Transparency International. Mohamed has published two novels: Escape in 2016 that was awarded the Rambourg Foundation Award for Art and Culture, Dhawat National Students Bureau Award, and Prose Not For Publication in 2019. Mohamed’s work has also appeared in several journals around the world, including DAWN in D.C, Ultra Sawt in Doha, and Akhbaroukom in Beirut. Mohamed also participated in several social movements against corruption and impunity in the Tunisian government such as “I Will Not Forgive” and “Free Writers.”
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Lesley Rosenthal
Lesley Rosenthal is Chief Operating Officer and Corporate Secretary of The Juilliard School and author of Good Counsel: Meeting the Legal Needs of Nonprofits (John Wiley & Sons 2012). Previously she served as EVP, General Counsel & Secretary of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York. Rosenthal graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Law School. She was later elected by alumni worldwide to a six-year term on the Harvard University Board of Overseers, ultimately serving as Vice Chair of the board and chairing its Arts & Humanities committee. She is the author of the bestselling book, Good Counsel: Meeting the Legal Needs of Nonprofits (John Wiley & Sons 2012) and co-librettist of the jazz opera, Dear Erich. As immediate past President of the NY Bar Foundation, she led the organization through a 3-year strategic plan period with the Rule of Law as its central theme. In 2018 she originated a seminar at Harvard Law School entitled, “Advocating for the Rule of Law: A Practical Approach.” Together with the Nigerian actress Omotola Jalade Ekeinde, she co-presented a panel on arts and the rule of law at the 2017 World Justice Forum. Rosenthal is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the founding board chair of Friends of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, which in 2021 galvanized international support for the rescue of all 273 members of the Afghan music school from peril at the hands of the Taliban.