Moderators and Speakers

• Sophie Balaÿ

  Certified Financial Crime Specialist and Senior Director at VIDOCQ

  

  Sophie Balaÿ

  Certified Financial Crime Specialist and Senior Director at VIDOCQ

  Originally trained as a lawyer, Sophie Balaÿ quickly directed her interest towards financial crime investigation, particularly international money laundering networks, the location and restitution of criminal proceeds, as well as financial crime relating to the environment and cultural heritage.

  Sophie coordinates a team of VIDOCQ analysts on major investigative and intelligence projects. Since joining VIDOCQ, Sophie has been involved in numerous complex investigation and intelligence files, including a major corruption case in the fishing sector in South West Africa, and suspicious real estate transactions which had been reported by a Canadian financial institution. She also assisted a law firm with the recovery of significant ill-gotten assets diverted from a foreign country.

  Prior to joining VIDOCQ, Sophie was involved in the fight against counterfeiting and trafficking of cultural property, working at law firms in Paris, London and Shanghai. She was also involved in investigative journalism in Eastern Europe with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.

  For more information about Sophie HERE.

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• Amelia K. Brankov

  attorney and Founder, Brankov PLLC

  

  Amelia K. Brankov

  attorney and Founder, Brankov PLLC

  Amelia K. Brankov focuses her practice on art law, intellectual property law, and litigation.

  As a well-rounded litigator, Ms. Brankov helps businesses and individuals in the creative sector resolve a wide range of dispute-resolution matters. Her practice includes advising on complex disputes involving breach of contract, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, copyright infringement, and the right of publicity. She has appeared in federal and state trial and appellate courts around the country and has represented clients in mediations and arbitrations nationwide.

  In her art law practice, Ms. Brankov advises galleries, collectors, artist studios, artist estates and foundations, curators, art advisors, appraisers, conservators, publishers, and startups. She assists clients in all legal aspects of transactions involving artwork including purchase agreements, consignment agreements, commission agreements, and loan agreements. She also represents clients in disputes concerning the rights to artwork and artists’ legacies, as well as business disputes among various players in the art world.

  Ms. Brankov has been quoted in publications such as The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal and writes and lectures frequently on art law and intellectual property law issues. She is the incoming Chair of the Art Law Committee of the New York City Bar Association and the Chair of Trusts & Estates magazine’s Art, Antiques & Auctions editorial advisory committee.

  More about Amelia HERE.

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• Pierre Ciric

  Founder and member of the Firm, The Ciric Law Firm, PLLC

  

  Pierre Ciric

  Founder and member of the Firm, The Ciric Law Firm, PLLC

  Pierre Ciric is a founding partner of the Ciric Law Firm, PLLC. Pierre represents French, American and European businesses, non-profits, and individuals in the United States before American jurisdictions. He specializes in commercial litigation, cultural heritage law, non-profit law, as well as trust and estate law.

  A Parisian with an M.B.A. from one of France’s most prestigious business schools, “École des Hautes Études Commerciales de Paris,” Pierre not only has a nuanced understanding of how businesses grow through strategic foresight but also a keen sense of how best to bring business cultures together successfully.

  More about Pierre Ciric HERE.

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• Sandrine Giroud
  

  Sandrine Giroud

  Sandrine Giroud specialises in domestic and international litigation, with a focus on commercial and financial disputes, fraud and asset recovery, white collar crime, mutual legal assistance in civil and criminal matters and international sanctions. She is an expert in art and cultural property law, trust law, as well as public international law and human rights.

  She regularly advises and represents companies and individuals in the recovery and protection of their assets through provisional measures, freezing orders, recognition and enforcement of foreign judgements and awards, cross-border insolvency proceedings and execution of contracts. She also advises organisations on governance and compliance issues as well as international organizations on Swiss law and immunity issues. As part of her practice, she also represents collectors, art market professionals and museums on dispute resolution and transactional matters in art. She is particularly experienced in sensitive matters and crisis situations requiring the management of reputational and media issues.

  Sandrine Giroud is a member of various professional bodies namely the Geneva Bar Association (ODA) of which she is the vice-president, the Swiss Bar Association (FSA/SAV), the International Bar Association (IBA), the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) and the Geneva Association of Business Law (AGDA).  She has been appointed to the advisory board of the newly created Court of Arbitration for Art (CAfA) and is among the selected pool of arbitrators for this court. She is a regular speaker at international conferences and frequently publishes on her fields of expertise.

  Sandrine Giroud is recognised as an expert by Chambers and Partners in Asset Tracing and Recovery, White Collar Crime and Art law, by The Legal 500 in Litigation and Banking and Finance and by Who’s Who Legal in Litigation, Asset Recovery and Private Client.

  More info about Sandrine Giroud HERE.

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• Amy Lamberti

  Associate General Counsel, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

  Amy Lamberti

  Associate General Counsel, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

  More about Amy HERE.

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• Ron Lazebnik
  

  Ron Lazebnik

  Ron Lazebnik primarily teaches the Samuelson-Glushko Intellectual Property and Information Law Clinic. He has assisted clinic students with a number of significant legal matters, including the filing of amicus briefs in important IP cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. In 2012, under his leadership, the clinic became a part of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office pilot programs to allow students to practice before patent and trademark examiners. His academic and scholarly interests include IP law, information law, and Internet law. Before joining Fordham Law, he was in private practice, where he helped represent clients in various matters involving patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, and general commercial litigation. He has also assisted in the defense of corporations and government agencies being investigated by the SEC, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, and the U.S. Department of Justice. Professor Lazebnik is a graduate of Harvard Law School, where he spent time as a Massachusetts SJC Rule 3:03 student attorney and as the Director of Research and Technology for the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau. He also served on the staff of the Harvard Journal of Law and Technology and contributed to GartnerG2’s and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society’s 2005 white paper “Copyright and Digital Media in a Post-Napster World.” Prior to law school, he received an MS in electrical engineering from Case Western Reserve University.

  More about Ron Lazebnik HERE.

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• Jill Magid

  artist

  Jill Magid

  artist

  American artist Jill Magid’s work is deeply ingrained in her lived experience, exploring and blurring the boundaries between art and life. Through her performance-based practice, Magid has initiated intimate relations with a number of organizations and structures of authority. She explores the emotional, philosophical, and legal tensions between the individual and ‘protective’ institutions, such as intelligence agencies or the police. To work alongside or within large organizations, Magid makes use of institutional quirks, systemic loopholes that allow her to make contact with people ‘on the inside’. Her work tends to be characterized by the dynamics of seduction, the resulting narratives often taking the form of a love story. It is typical of Magid’s practice that she follows the rules of engagement with an institution to the letter – sometimes to the point of absurdity.

  Learn more about Jill’s art HERE.

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• Kelly McKernan

  artist based in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.

  Kelly McKernan

  artist based in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.

  Kelly McKernan is an independent artist based in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. They graduated with a B.F.A. in 2009 from Kennesaw State University in Georgia and have been a full time artist since 2012. Original watercolor and acrylic gouache paintings are created for galleries, private commissions, and their online store where fine art prints and other products are also sold. In addition to maintaining a large social media following, Kelly shares tutorials and teaches workshops, travels across the US for events and comic-cons, and also creates illustrations for books, comics, games, and more.

  Kelly’s personal work is primarily informed by their journey as an artist and human. Their art explores their personal evolution of an ever-shifting identity, informed by the sexuality and gender spectrums, motherhood, childhood trauma, escaping a religious cult, pregnancy loss and abortion, depression, divorce, neurodivergence, and chronic illness. All of this weaves itself into the quiet narrative of self-exploration behind Kelly’s vibrant and ethereal paintings.

  Learn more about HERE.

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• Christopher J. Robinson

  Of Counsel, Rottenberg Lipman Rich P.C.

  

  Christopher J. Robinson

  Of Counsel, Rottenberg Lipman Rich P.C.

  Chris practices art law and intellectual property law, in addition to serving clients requiring general commercial litigation. A former art dealer, he brings a practical knowledge of the art world to his practice of art law. His clients for both litigation and transactional matters include dealers, artists, art advisors, museums, auction houses, appraisers, art foundations, collectors, restorers, developers and publishers. He is outside legal counsel to the Private Art Dealers Association and the New Art Dealers Alliance, and he has spoken widely on art issues, in particular on stolen art, consignment fraud, forgeries, copyright and moral rights, public art, dealer transactions, and artists’ rights. Chris also has extensive experience in copyright licensing and litigation, and gray-market goods enforcement and litigation. His practice includes trademark, unfair competition and false advertising, as well as libel defense and the First Amendment. He also represents clients with respect to privacy law and compliance with sanctions regulations promulgated by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

  Chris earned his J.D. from Fordham University School of Law where he was Editor in Chief of Law Review. He pursued post-graduate work in Art History at the Courtauld Institute, London and has a B.A. and M.A. from Oriel College, Oxford University.

  More about Chris HERE.

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• Carol J. Steinberg

  attorney and professor at the School of Visual Arts (NYC)

  

  Carol J. Steinberg

  attorney and professor at the School of Visual Arts (NYC)

  Carol J. Steinberg has practiced art, copyright, and entertainment law in New York City and on the East End of Long Island for over twenty years. She is a Member of the Faculty of the School of Visual Arts, where she teaches courses on artists’ rights. Ms. Steinberg is a co-chair of the Fine Arts Committee of the State Bar’s Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law Section and a member of the City Bar’s Art Law Committee, where she chairs the sub-committee on Artists’ Rights. She is also a consultant to the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) and a member of the East Hampton Arts Council, the Fine Arts Federation, and ALAI (international artists’ rights organization founded by Victor Hugo).

  More about Carol HERE.

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• David Stier

  Partner, DLA Piper LLC

  

  David Stier

  Partner, DLA Piper LLC

  David Stier is a litigator, trial attorney and strategic advisor with significant experience in the financial services industry, including fintech, cryptocurrency and digital assets, anti-money laundering and financial fraud investigations, and white collar matters.

  With nearly twenty years of experience in both government and private practice, David has a proven track record of successfully leading teams through complex investigations, litigations and prosecutions, including navigating historic challenges in the aftermath of the 2008-2009 global financial crisis, and through the global COVID-19 pandemic.

  As a skilled strategic advisor with experience providing counsel on Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), Anti-money Laundering (AML), anti-corruption, anti-fraud, and securities laws and regulatory issues, David also assists clients in the design, implementation and improvement of thoughtful, risk-based compliance controls designed to avoid, or mitigate the impact of, costly litigation and investigations.

  More information about David available HERE.

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• Katherine Wilson-Milne

  Partner, Schindler Cohen & Hochman LLP

  

  Katherine Wilson-Milne

  Partner, Schindler Cohen & Hochman LLP

  Katie Wilson-Milne practices in the areas of litigation, art law, not-for-profit organizations, and intellectual property.

  In her litigation practice, Katie represents a broad range of clients in state and federal courts and also works on complex transnational litigations in foreign jurisdictions. She has had substantial trial and appellate level experience, including before the federal district court, federal appellate court, Supreme Court of the United States and federal bankruptcy court. Her cases involve diverse practice areas, including: art law, private equity, bankruptcy, commercial breach of contract and fraud, corporate governance, estate matters, intellectual property, banking, and real estate.  Katie has been selected to join the New York Super Lawyers Rising Stars list from 2018 to present.

  More about Katie Wilson-Milne HERE.

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• Nancy E. Wolff

  Partner, Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard, LLP

  

  Nancy E. Wolff

  Partner, Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard, LLP

  Nancy Wolff is a partner at the intellectual property, media and entertainment law firm of Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard, LLP located in New York, NY, and Beverly Hills, CA.  She represents a wide range of creative individuals and companies in all areas of digital media, art law, licensing, and publishing and serves as counsel to the Digital Media Licensing Association. Nancy is co-chair of the firm’s Litigation Department and co-chair of the firm’s Art Law Group based on her deep knowledge of copyright, defamation, and other third-party rights.

  She represents photographers, artists, collectors, museums, galleries, and publishers in all transactional issues. She provides guidance on best practices in using content and offers guidance in areas of content, and a pre-publication review of books, documentaries, films, podcasts, and television series. Nancy counsels on creative deal structuring, the acquisition and sale of properties and art collections, and reviews licensing and services agreements; exhibition agreements, and agreements involving interactive and emerging technologies.

  Nancy is a frequent speaker throughout the United States and Europe on copyright, media, and licensing and has received significant recognition for her expertise in copyright law. She is a Past President of the Copyright Society of the USA (CSUSA) and a member of the ABA IP Task Force on Copyright Reform. She has been published by Allworth Press, ABA Landslide Journal, and a book of essays she co-edited on 21^st Century Copyright Law published with Focal Press.

   

  More about Nancy HERE.

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