Art and Cultural Property Law

At the heart of art and cultural property law

Our team is widely recognised in Switzerland and internationally for its expertise in art and cultural property law, a reputation established by founding partner Pierre Lalive, who helped shape the field from the 1950s, including through his contribution to the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects. Our lawyers serve on the boards of leading museums and foundations, including the Kokoschka Foundation, the International Museum of the Red Cross and Red Crescent and the Swiss National Museum, and we advise one of Switzerland’s largest private art collections.

Specialist expertise with global reach

We advise museums, galleries, auction houses, collectors, artists, foundations, governments and financial institutions on a wide range of legal issues in the international art market. Our work covers transactions, including the purchase and sale of art and its use as collateral, regulatory and reputational due diligence (including money laundering, trafficking, looted art and authenticity issues), and estate planning to preserve collections. We also act in disputes involving title, provenance, attribution, restitution and fraud, including claims relating to WWII-looted artworks.

Community engagement

LALIVE co-sponsors the Pierre Lalive and John Henry Merryman Fellowship in Art and Cultural Heritage Law with the University of Geneva’s Art Law Centre and the International Cultural Property Society.