In an example of a non healthcare client taking advantage of the Office’s trial expertise, area clients retained David Faulkner as local defense counsel and assisting trial counsel in a six day jury trial before the Honorable Frederick J. Kapala of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (Western Division, Rockford).

The trial raised issues of valuation of allegedly lost/destroyed art work and interpretation of the infrequently litigated federal Visual Artists Rights Act (“VARA”). In valuing the art work, the jury, in their October 2017 verdict, appeared to accept the defense arguments that the works generally were not of “recognized stature” (finding only 4 such works among the 1100 so claimed). The jury also appeared to be persuaded by the defense art valuation arguments, rejecting plaintiff’s claimed value of $11,000,000.00 and instead awarding less than 4% of that amount (finding a value at 300K).