Nicholas O'Donnell

Nick’s practice focuses primarily on complex civil litigation, for which he has appeared before the Supreme Court of the United States. He represents corporations, employers, individuals, investment advisers, banks, and others around the world in contract, employment, securities, consumer protection, tort and domestic relations cases, with particular experience in the German-speaking world. He is also the editor of the Art Law Report, a blog that provides timely updates and commentary on legal issues in the museum and visual arts communities, one of his areas of expertise. Nick is one of the leading practitioners in the United States in matters concerning claims to allegedly Nazi-looted works of art.

Nick is the Co-Chair of the Art, Cultural Property and Heritage Law Committee of the International Bar Association and co-chair of the New York chapter of the Responsible Art Market Initiative, as well as a member of the Art Law Committee of the New York City Bar Association.

Additionally, Nick has authored and contributed to several books on art law:

• Country chapter author (United States): Museums and the Holocaust (Second Edition, Institute of Art and Law, 2021)
• A Tragic Fate—Law and Ethics in the Battle Over Nazi-Looted Art, (Ankerwyke/ABA Publishing, 2017)
• “Public Trust or Private Business? Deaccessioning Law and Ethics in the United States,” in Éthique et Patrimoine Culturel - Regard Croisés, G. Goffaux, ed., (L’Harmattan, 2016)
• “Vergangenheit als Zukunft? Restitutionsstreitigkeiten in den Vereinigten Staaen,” in Ersessene Kunst—Der Fall Gurlitt, J. Heil and A. Weber, eds., (Metropol, 2015)
• “Nazi-Looted Art—Risks and Best Practices for Museums,” in The Legal Guide for Museum Professionals, Julia Courtney, ed., (2015, Rowman & Littlefield)