London
F: +44 (0)20 3668 5601
Azmina Jasani is a Partner in the Art & Cultural Property Law Group and a leading art law and luxury assets specialist. She is valued by her clients for her “effective”, “diligent” and “straightforward” style and for her dual qualifications and experience in New York and London, which they deem “a real asset”. Chambers & Partners 2019-20 & 2020-21.
Azmina is sought-after by the full spectrum of industry stakeholders, including artists, museums, collectors, sovereigns, galleries, dealers, auction houses and financial institutions on contentious and non-contentious matters around the globe.
She represents clients on a variety of matters, including disputes involving issues of authenticity, provenance, title and copyright as well as disputes relating to artist-gallery relations and looted or illegally exported cultural property.
Azmina routinely negotiates the sale and purchase of important artworks bought and sold privately or at auction, high-value consignment agreements, auction guarantee agreements, art finance agreements and art loan agreements for special exhibitions held at museums and galleries.
She is also often instructed by art and luxury businesses to help them comply with regulations pertaining to anti-money laundering, consumer protection, import and export, data protection, bribery and introductory commissions.
As a dual qualified lawyer with over a decade’s experience, Azmina is well-placed to provide a single source of advice for clients who require assistance in more than one jurisdiction.
Azmina’s clients describe her as “a powerhouse”, “fantastic to work with” and someone who is “precise, clear-thinking and has a sharp mind”. Competitors describe Azmina as “a formidable counsellor, a zealous advocate for her client, and a pleasure to work with from the perspective of opposing counsel, which is a rare combination.” Chambers & Partners 2019-20 & 2020-21.
Azmina lectures at the Institute of Art & Law, Queen Mary School of Law, Sotheby’s Institute of Art and the Courtauld Institute of Art.
She received her Juris Doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law and her B.A., summa cum laude, from Queens College, City University of New York.
Significant Representations
Advising a top-end international dealer on securing a billion-dollar consignment of an important collection belonging to a prominent political family.
Advising Epiris LLP in relation to its acquisition 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 worth in excess of $100 million and an important painting by Kandinsky.
Advising an international art 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 connection with a loan of an important piece of cultural property for a traveling exhibition in UK and US.
Successfully defended artist Claes Oldenburg against a frivolous claim of copyright infringement.
Successfully represented a private collector to 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.
On 6 February 2021, Azmina Jasani lectured at the Institute of Art and Law on the enforceability of force majeure provisions in the context of...
Read MoreOn 3 February 2020, Azmina Jasani joined fellow market professionals, colleagues and advisors at the “It’s not me, it’s you” AWITA X PAIAM forum to...
Read MoreAzmina Jasani is a Partner in our Art & Cultural Property Law Group. She is a leading art law and luxury assets specialist. See the...
Read MoreOn 30 September 2020, Azmina Jasani chaired and moderated a PAIAM Webinar entitled, In Conversation with Artists Alvaro Barrington and Rana Begum: Empowering Diverse Voices...
Read MoreBlock 336, Artist Legal Rights Sessions, Copyright Infringement. Azmina Jasani contributed as a panellist on a webinar focusing on copyright infringement. Topics for conversation included:...
Read MoreIn March 2020, Azmina spoke at the RICS Valuation Conference in London on the topic of commissions in art transactions, flagging the difference between a...
Read MoreConstantine Cannon attorney Azmina Jasani published in the Art Newspaper, When artists and galleries split, what are the legal implications?. Click here to read the article.
Read MoreAzmina Jasani authored an article, UK Welcomes Art Market to the Regulated Sector, on the new anti-money laundering regulations that went into effect on 10...
Read MoreRead Azmina Jasani's latest contribution to Citywealth Magazine, on the issues to consider before buying art here: https://www.citywealthmag.com/news/artful-dodger
Read MoreRead our senior associate Azmina Jasani's latest contribution to the RICS Property Journal.'A faithless servant' discusses the cases that reveals a hazy world of secret...
Read MoreGuest Lecturer, Auction Guarantees: A Legal Perspective, Institute of Art and Law, London (February 2019) Azmina gave a lecture at the Institute of Art and...
Read MoreSpeaker, Art and Private Clients, Russian Wealth Advisory Forum, Zurich (January 2019) Azmina chaired a panel at the Russian Wealth Advisory Forum in Zurich on...
Read MoreSpeaker, Circulation of Fraudulent Art in Emerging Art Markets, Abu Dhabi Art Fair (November 2018).
Read MoreSpeaker, UK and US approach to copyright infringement, Sotheby’s Institute of Art in New York (September 2018).
Read MoreSpeaker; Authentication in Art, The Hague (7 June 2018).
Read MoreTrust and Estates, Fifth Annual Special Report: Art, Auctions and Antiques, March 2018. Click here to read the article.
Read MoreGuest Lecturer; LLM in Art, Business and Law Program at Queen Mary University of London Law School, February 2018.
Read MoreSpeaker; Art Business Conference, New York, April 2017.
Read MoreSpecial Report: Art, Auctions & Antiques, Vol. 156 No., 3 March 2017. Click here to read the article.
Read MoreSecret commissions and poorly defined relationships in art transactions pave the way for litigation, warn Pierre Valentin and Azmina Jasani Read Article
Read MorePublic exhibitions thrive on the mutually beneficial relationship between private collectors and museums. For private collectors, lending artwork to museums confers numerous advantages. Read article...
Read MoreRICS Property Journal, February 2017. Click here to read the article.
Read MoreSouth Asian Art Market Report 2017. Click here to read the article.
Read MoreWealthManagement.com, August 2016. Click here to read the article.
Read MoreGuest Lecturer, Courtauld Institute Law Society, London, March 2016.
Read MoreAntiques Trade Gazette, October 2015. Click here to read the article.
Read MoreSpeaker; Institute of Art and Law, London, June 2015.
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