UGGC Avocats
Bolstered by a strong international network, UGGC Avocats‘ art law practice is firmly established on the French market, with a sizeable specialist team which assists many prominent public bodies and cultural organisations with acquisitions, loans, insurance issues and the management of cultural property. The firm’s stellar client base includes the Joan Mitchell Foundation, Académie des Beaux-Arts and the Rijksmuseum. Leading the practice is Jean-François Canat, a pioneering figure in the field of art law. Anne-Marie Pecoraro regularly advises leading companies and foundations on issues such as protection and donations, whilst Corinne Khayat is a notable expert in IP (particularly copyright) law, with an in-depth knowledge of the art market. Line-Alexa Glotin, Philippe Hansen and Laure Assumpçao are other key members of the team.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘Laure Assumpçao in particular has been fantastic to work with over the last year. Her knowledge of copyright law in the US and France has been invaluable to us. She has worked incredibly hard to keep things timely and moving forward. I also appreciate her thoughts on our strategic approach.'
- 'Jean-François Canat is very well-informed and pleasant to work with.’
- 'Jean-François Canat and Laure Assumpçao are truly excellent. They regularly exceed my expectations with respect to finding solutions to complex multi-jurisdictional issues.'
- 'Their responsiveness, subject matter expertise, patience through frustrating circumstances, and pragmatic approach make them wonderful advisors. They are comfortable working on cases at the highest level of complexity and with difficult counterparties without losing sight of the details. I work with legal teams across a few jurisdictions, and this is one of my favourite teams thanks to their thoroughness and effectiveness.'
- 'Jean-François Canat is my go-to partner for art matters in Paris: he is very experienced and very responsive. Laure Assumpçao has been able to provide balanced and incisive commercial advice.'
- 'The team have a very good blend of experience in the art business, meaning they can deliver advice quickly and for a reasonable price.'
- ’An international law firm, with an excellent client portfolio.'
- 'UGGC is a solid ally for us, especially Anne-Marie Pecoraro. She determines the strategy, co-ordinates everything and has close relationships with firms in other countries, such as the US and Italy, for cross-border matters.'
Key clients
- Joan Mitchell Foundation
- L'Etablissement Public du Musée du Louvre
- Brun Fine Art
- Galerie Canesso
- Giacometti, Berthoud Consorts
- Académie des Beaux-Arts
- Mr. Jean-Claude and Mr. Philippe Legros
- ArtAncient
- Musée d'Art et d'Histoire du Judaïsme
- Elyx Productions
- Meriem Bouderbala
- Luc Bellier
- Rijksmuseum
Work highlights
- Represented the Joan Mitchell Foundation in a copyright infringement case against French luxury goods company Louis Vuitton Malletier and its private foundation, Fondation Louis Vuitton.
- Represented Musée du Louvre in the context of a major criminal investigation into the international trafficking of looted art, in which it is - for now - indirectly involved.
- Represented two private clients in two related estate disputes with the council of Compiègne and with their siblings concerning the title to ancient sculptures.
Lawyers
Rising stars
Leading individuals
Jean-François Canat has been a lawyer for the best part of his life and following various experiences in other law firms, he contributed to the founding of UGGC Avocats in 1993. He is mostly involved in litigation, in matters of art market law and commercial law. ART MARKET LAW EXPERTISE: Jean-François’ long-standing practice in art law remains a rare occurrence in a law firm such as UGGC Avocats, which has the ability to offer specialist services in a wide-range of sectors of the law (civil, criminal, tax, public, etc.) Jean-François has also developed a unique international network of foreign lawyers and experts, specialist in the art law sector, mainly based in the United States and the United Kingdom. Over the years these multidisciplinary and international aspects of his practice have allowed Jean-François and his team to deal with many legal matters, some of which very high-profile, both providing advice and assisting their clients in either domestic or international litigation.
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Jean-François Canat