David Paul Steiner
Founding Member, David Steiner & Associates
David is an attorney focused on art transactions and art litigation. David’s practice includes planning for, and consideration of, foreign, federal and state tax consequences related to art transactions, customs export and import concerns; art insurance (including art insurance review and negotiation of policy terms, provisions and endorsements); intellectual property and moral rights; resale royalties; and cultural heritage, treaty and patrimony matters. In addition, he negotiates and drafts purchase and sale agreements, bills of sale, escrow agreements, consignment agreements, appraisal agreements, art advisor and consulting agreements and other key art market distribution and publisher agreements. David has advised on the many varied aspects of the purchase, auction, sale and collection of fine art, as well as cultural property, and collectables. The foregoing include national and international transactions among private collectors, auction houses, dealers, galleries, museums, among others, ranging in value from thousands of dollars to single purchases and sales in the tens of millions of dollars. His practice in these areas includes addressing the key elements of such transactions, including title, authenticity, condition, value and provenance, as well as due diligence for buyers and sellers.
David has represented several major artists’ estates and the post-humous casting of bronzes. He has litigated art matters throughout the U.S. as well as in several European venues. David is a frequent speaker and is published on matters related to art law and business. David also co-edited The Visual Artist Manual, the first of its kind, which was published in 1981, and has continued to specialize in art law and art litigation matters since that time. He has lectured widely on art law subjects, both in the United States and in Europe, and has written for various magazines and participated in many symposia. In the world of academia, David served as an adjunct professor at University of Southern California Law Center, teaching a class in art law. He has also served as a mediator in art law and commercial disputes. Currently, David is on the advisory board of the Shinnecock Art Lending Fund. He has participated in several mediations and arbitrations of art-related matters in a variety of venues.
David, who is a former President of the Beverly Hills Bar Association Barristers, is admitted to practice in the States of California and Colorado. He has been admitted Pro Hac Vice in many states, including Florida (U.S. District Court - Middle and Southern Districts of Florida), Massachusetts (U.S. District Court -
District of Massachusetts), Rhode Island (U.S. District Court - District of Rhode Island), Nevada (U.S. District Court - District of Nevada, Las Vegas), Arizona (U.S. District Court - District of Arizona), Hawaii (U.S. District Court - District of Hawaii), New York (U.S. District Court - Southern District of New York), Utah (U.S. District Court - Central District of Utah) and Pennsylvania (U.S. District Court - Eastern District of Pennsylvania), North Carolina (state court). In law school, David founded and became the first editor-in-chief of the Constitutional Law Quarterly at the UC Hastings College of Law.
David’s educational background includes: University of California, Hastings College of the Law (J.D.), 1974; Stanford University, Cum Laude (B.A), 1971.
Jurisdiction: U.S.A.