Withers Worldwide

Since the Washington Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets in 1998, there has been a huge growth in the number and value of claims by dispossessed owners (and their heirs), particularly of artworks stolen by fascist government forces between 1933 and 1945, but also of those looted at other times of armed conflict.

Claims arising from injustices perpetrated during World War II continue to emerge; often they involve complex legal issues spanning many jurisdictions and long periods of time, as well as difficult moral questions. In many cases the disputes are highly emotive, and they may on occasion involve politically sensitive matters.

Our cultural assets and art team has acquired substantial experience in these and other such claims, and we are handle them with compassion, sensitivity and pragmatism, both in the courts and in mediation.