Nixon Peabody, firm with an Arts and Cultural Institutions Team led by Thaddeus J. Stauber, is representing the Republic of Hungary and the Hungarian National Gallery in a case involving the Herzog Collection. On Feb. 15, 2011, the firm moved to dismiss a complaint filed by United States citizen David L. de Csepel and two Italian citizen-relatives alleging that the claims resolved by the U.S. government in a 1973 agreement with Hungary.
Claimants are seeking custody and control of at least 40 artworks that were once part of the Herzog Collection, formerly belonging to Baron Mór Lipót Herzog (1869–1934). The case may be hard to win because in 1973, Hungary and the United States entered into an agreement settling all WWII and communist-era property claims between the two countries and their respective nationals. Pursuant to the agreement, Hungary a certain sum in exchange for the United States settling all claims by U.S. nationals seeking recovery of property taken by Hungary between 1939 and 1973. Apparently Hungary and Italy had entered into a similar agreement.
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