Tim Maxwell

Tim blends commercial litigation and private wealth experience with a market leading specialism in art law and cultural property law. Tim is recognised in the major legal directories as a top tier art lawyer and has been recognised for his expertise in relation to other luxury assets such as collector cars and wine whilst also advising on matters involving musical instruments, watches, jewellery and yachts.

Tim is instructed by a wide spectrum of clients ranging from artists to government institutions. Tim has been involved in notable cases involving artists’ rights (including artist resale rights, commissions and public art), street art & brands, insurance, art finance, auction house conduct, commission disputes, attribution & authenticity, provenance & title, export & import, fraud, fakes & forgeries, NFT’s, guarantees, restitution (both WWII and post colonial) & recovery, cultural property (including heritage claims) and treasure including shipwrecks.

• Claims involving exceptional cultural property and ownership of treasure on land and in shipwrecks; including major restitution claims to artworks and cultural property acting both for heirs and innocent current possessors.
• Claims involving art advisors and fraudulent dealings including cases concerning the prevailing veil of secrecy and opacity in the art world (for example Hickox -v- Dickinson).
• Several of the leading cases relating to auction house disputes (including Thwaytes -v- Sothebys; Dickson & Anor -v- Christie’s).
• Test case concerning Artist Resale Rights (DACS & ACS -v- I Braka Ltd) and multiple cases involving artists and brands. Advising on test cases in the field of artists’ rights including the only reported case on ownership of street art (Creative Foundation v Dreamland Leisure Ltd & Ors)
• Various confidential institutional projects in the Middle East.
• Advice in relation to pre-eminent and world-renowned collector cars.

• Contributor to Sale of Goods – Volume 34 of the Encyclopaedia of Forms & Precedents.
• Ownership of Street Art, Art Antiquity & Law, Volume 21, Issue 1 (April 2016) pp 73-82.
• Various ad hoc articles contributions to Apollo, New Law Journal, Law Society Gazette and the Step Journal.
• Tim has often been quoted in the mainstream media and broadsheets whilst often providing insights for trade press such as the Art Newspaper and the Antiques Trade Gazette.
• Coverage in Lawyer’s top 15 Appeals of 2021.
• Previously The Times Lawyer of the Week.
• My Legal Life: Profile: Law Gazette.

Tim has guest lectured at the University of Glasgow, Goldsmiths, Christie’s Education, Sotheby’s Institute, the Courtauld Art Law Society, the Institute of Art & Law and various conferences both domestic and international.

Member of:
IBA Art, Cultural Institutions & Heritage Law Committee.
Pool of Arbitrators for the Court of Arbitration for Art.
Register of Arbitrators in the Venice Chamber of Arbitration.
Art Lawyers Association
The Institute of Art & Law.
PAIAM.