Azmina Jasani

Azmina is a Partner in the Art & Cultural Property Law Group and a leading art law and luxury assets specialists.

“Azmina is dual-qualified [in New York and England], so can provide some very beneficial and pragmatic guidance to clients on international issues, especially in relation to transatlantic issues.”  Chambers & Partners, 2019.

She has a decade’s experience representing artists, private and corporate collectors, galleries and dealers, auction houses, financial institutions and museums on contentious and non-contentious matters in London and New York.

Her clients have said the following about her: “Azmina is extremely helpful and her advice and documentation is very clear”; “she is precise, clear-thinking and has a sharp mind”; “she is meticulous, client-oriented and well versed in both UK and US laws”; “she is easy and straightforward to deal with as well as diligent and effective.”   Chambers & Partners 2019 & Legal 500 2018-19.

Azmina lectures at the Institute of Art & Law, Queen Mary University of London Law School, Sotheby’s Institute of Art (New York) and the Courtauld Institute of Art.

Prior to joining Constantine Cannon, Azmina worked in the New York office of Withers, specialising in art law and focusing primarily on art litigation.  While at Withers, Azmina successfully litigated a seminal case in the area of copyright infringement and the fair use defense in the United States, Cariou-v-Prince, Gagosian Gallery and Gagosian.

Azmina received her J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall), and her B.A., summa cum laude, from Queens College, City University of New York.

Significant Representations

Advising a top-end international dealer secure a billion-dollar consignment of an important collection belonging to a prominent political family.

Advising Epiris LLP in relation to its acquisitions of Bonhams, an international auction house.

Successfully defended a British antiquities dealership and its director against a criminal claim asserted by a European state of dealing in looted cultural property.

Negotiated several high-value consignment and auction guarantee agreements with Christie’s and Sotheby’s, including the consignment of a painting by Picasso in excess of $100 million and an important painting by Kandinsky.

Advising an art international dealership on a Holocaust looted claim in connection with an Old Masters painting.

Negotiated a multimillion-dollar deal in relation to the traveling exhibition and purchase of a significant collection of works by artist Ai Weiwei. Advised on complex insurance issues involving the works of art, some of which were yet to be created, while others were being loaned to a museum and on import and transport of the works from China to Europe.

Advised a collector in relation to a loan of an important artwork relating to a traveling exhibition in UK and US museums.

Successfully defended artist Claes Oldenburg against a frivolous claim of copyright infringement.

Successfully represented a private collector recoup the full purchase price of $5 million for an artwork plus legal fees in an authenticity dispute with an auction house.

Cariou-v-Prince, Gagosian Gallery and Gagosian: Successfully advocated on behalf of the defendants in a landmark U.S. copyright infringement action relating to the question of fair use.  Helped persuade the United States Court of Appeals of the Second Circuit that 25 of the 30 artworks at issue were protected as fair use, saving them from destruction under an injunction imposed by the lower court.

Represented Acker, a fine and rare wine merchant since 1820, defend a claim relating to counterfeit wines alleged by Bill Koch.

Successfully assisted Marlborough Gallery in estopping a fine art auction house from selling an inauthentic work of art that was wrongly attributed to the artist Claudio Bravo, whose estate is represented by the Gallery.