Mastering Opportunties: The Art of Managing Art Law Internships

Art Law 101

Art law is a broad body of law that applies to the creation, distribution, conservation, and disposition of visual art. This includes not only the realm of physical works, but also their underlying intellectual property and expression. In fact, the latter can often be an unexpected extension of the artist’s intellectual property rights.
In the realm of intellectual property, the most relevant area for visual art are copyrights and trademarks. Copyright not only protects original works of authorship, such as paintings and sculptures, but "derivative works" that arise from those original works, such as limited edition prints, serigraphs, posters, and digital copies. Artists (and even certain curators and art historians) have the sole right to determine whether or not and how their works of art may be copied or reproduced. They also have the right to prevent others from translating or otherwise reinterpreting those works into new dimensions, colors, and materials. Yet artists’ rights are not limitless, and this is an area that requires a careful balancing of rights.
The distribution of works overlaps with licensing and copyright. If an artist decides to lawfully "lend" their copyrighted works for re-use or derivative works, they can accomplish this through license agreements that limit the duration of the use, the economic scope of the use, and other restrictions. Importantly, although voluntary licenses are binding, they can always be revoked by the "hot" artist who commands ever higher prices with the passage of time and the establishment of their name and reputation. There are other areas of law that apply to the scope of distribution. For example , art merchants, galleries, and auction houses ordinarily carry certain fiduciary duties to the buyer and, in some cases, to the seller. Duties of disclosure, verification, and avoidance of conflicts of interest need to be considered in appraising liability in the event of an art transaction that goes wrong. Certain regulations and statutes, such as those governing weight and measure and the Sale of Goods Act, are also implicated. The provenance of a work of art addresses its "[h]istory of ownership." It is a fundamental principle of participatory art law that the "steps" of a work of art throughout its life cycle, including its creation, exhibition, sale, and potential destruction, are each significant acts that implicate the artist and other parties’ rights and obligations. Important questions such as "Is the quality of the work genuine?" or "Was the work stolen, looted, or otherwise acquired without the owner’s consent?" are essential to building an accurate provenance and enjoy significant legal and economic implications. Many clients are willing to accept a greater risk to avoid a higher price, but they need to know that the risk is there. Accordingly, the provenance of even famous artworks is still an area of ongoing research and even litigation. Finally, art transactions implicate many traditional areas of law, such as commercial law, real estate law, contract law, and administrative law. Contracts for the sale, license, and collaboration on works of art can implicate complex issues that have historically not been associated with art law, but are nevertheless significant to the integrity of the transaction.

The Case for Art Law Internships

Internships complemented by the knowledge and confidence gained from a solid course of study are essential for your professional development. Pursuing opportunities at law firms, museums, art institutions, and governmental organizations whose focus is art, intellectual property, and other related matters is invaluable. The internship will give you first-hand experience and allow you to continue gaining the knowledge and confidence to handle art law matters successfully. Moreover, the legal field is incredibly competitive and securing an internship is a great way to further your career in the legal field. Internships give you an edge in your future job search, and can provide the extra credential that helps you secure your ideal position. The art law field is relatively small and coveted. There are very few positions available in-house or out of office, which makes it all the more critical to form working relationships with the foremost leaders and organizations in the field through internships. A top education coupled with the right experience will help you stand out in the eyes of your next employer.

Where to Seek Art Law Internships

Previously mentioned, larger law firms with a sizeable art law practice are a great resource to begin your research and application process. Art law is a niche practice, so if you are not familiar with the type of work that goes hand-in-hand with this specialization, do your research before applying for an internship position. Jeffrey Greenbaum, a partner at Proskauer Rose in New York, stated that "we are looking for candidates who demonstrated interest in the field and experience in the field, whether it’s through internships and experiences abroad, prior jobs and whether they have worked in the art world prior."
Internships at art law firms can provide hands-on experience in the field and connections that may prove useful when seeking future employment, but be aware that they often have set internship schedules. You are essentially committing yourself to that firm and their level of work for the length of your internship. You should have a great understanding of the firm’s sample work (if they have any online) and be able to concisely explain how you would enhance that practice by predicting how you would contribute as an intern.
There are several other organizations and firms that offer art law internships. For instance, The New York State Bar offers summer law internships, where individuals can work with the In-House Counsel, Human Resources, Litigation and IP departments to gain more experience and further their understanding of a corporate legal department. Van Der Made Law is an international boutique law firm, with a focus on high-end art law matters. They currently have an unpaid internship program, where interns can assist directly with clients. Interns at Van Der Made will also have the opportunity to attend and support art events.
Having a clear understanding of where you want to intern is beneficial to both you and the firm. If you prefer a non-legal setting, then you may want to consider the Whitney Museum of Art, which currently offers a Summer Fellow Program. The program allows students to work in 15 different departments and has led to permanent employment for some fellows. The Whitney also offers internships in the curatorial and conservation areas. On the other hand, larger auction houses, such as Sotheby’s and Christie’s, offer internship programs that put interns in direct contact with other departments, from legal to marketing.

What to Anticipate from an Art Law Internship

Generally speaking, an art law internship will involve any number of the following tasks and potential learning opportunities:
Research
Most likely, you will conduct research for various attorneys and projects. This may include researching and analyzing the legal issues involved in an art restitution case; or a dispute involving the copyright of an artwork; or even an ethics question about an attorney’s role in evaluating a particular artwork. You may be asked to draft a memorandum explaining your findings for the attorney, or even conduct a more public piece of research on a topic, such as by writing an online article for publication through an art law firm’s blog or website. Interns doing research should be prepared to be flexible and to dig deep for sources; particularly in the restitution and title attribution context, laws involved are frequently not from the United States, so research may even require working with translators and non-English documents.
Legal Drafting
Once the research part is done, attorneys will often ask an intern to draft a memorandum summarizing the research, or to draft a letter to the client outlining the results of the research. Interns involved in drafting should be proficient in working in Microsoft Word; in some firms, interns are also asked to "cut and paste" paragraphs from first drafts of documents into subsequent drafts of documents as the drafting process goes on.
Deal Assist
An art law deal can be extremely complicated and have many moving parts. Artists, buyers, and institutions looking to buy or place an artwork at auction, and even third parties such as dealers or collectors, often need help and support to push a deal through to execution. An intern can often step into this coordinative role by managing phone calls, outreach to other parties, and recordkeeping, as well as simply providing administrative support to help the deal happen.
Client Meeting Attendance
An intern will almost always be invited to client meetings, or meetings with parties involved in a case. Because an interest in art law is assumed, an intern will usually be responsible for meeting clients and parties at the front door or lobby of the law firm and directing them to the meeting room. Interns will be asked to take notes and record the substance of discussions, and will then be responsible for drawing up the notes into a meeting memo to be distributed to other counsel or the client.

The Required Skill Set for Art Law Internships

A few skills and qualifications are essential to obtaining an art law or intellectual property internship and then succeeding in that role. Legal research is one of the primary skills you will use when working as an intern. However, there are many types of research, and your research tasks will depend on your supervising attorney’s practice area. For example, you may be asked to do statutory or regulatory research, such as researching an issue under the Lanham Act (a federal trademark statute), or researching how a court has defined a certain term in the common law. You may also be asked to do market research, such as identifying who owns registered trademarks in a particular industry segment, or even researching whether a certain trademark you are seeking to register conflicts with existing marks. You may even be called upon to do factual research on behalf of your supervising attorney by searching online databases for specific information about a subject. A good starting place for all of this research is the library; you may even want to read a few copyright and trademark treatises that are relevant to your work. If you use Westlaw, a subscription database of legal materials, keep in mind that it contains all the statutes, cases, and regulations you would find in the library, but also contains some additional research tools and functionality. I recommend that you spend your first few days familiarizing yourself with Westlaw or whatever database your office uses for legal research. There are many other useful skills you may be able to utilize when acting in an intern capacity . For example, if you have experience in the fine arts and an understanding of the contemporary art market, you’ll be able to put that knowledge to use either by working for a gallery or an auction house with regard to provenance, title history, and authenticity of a piece, or working with an artist or a collector on issues as broad-ranging as fair dealing in works sold at auction to copyright ownership with respect to paintings that may be reproduced as prints. Translation skills are also requisite for any intern who can translate between government offices, galleries, and private parties. For example, there are many works published outside of the United States, and many contemporary artists whose native language is not English. Your foreign language skills may be critical in identifying works that predate copyright registration or the rules around what is or is not fair use, or for reviewing agreements between potential clients and commercial entities. You may even be asked to translate works protected by copyright for infringement analysis or obtain translations from foreign publications that are near-duplicates of U.S. publications. Depending on where you work, you might also use your negotiation skills to review both simple and complex licensing agreements or other transactions. The best negotiation skills rely on an understanding of each party’s underlying business purposes, compiling alternative solutions for meeting your client’s goals, and an ability to build rapport between antagonistic parties. Your legal analysis abilities will be put to use when reviewing contracts and litigation materials or charting out how a certain case stands with regard to U.S. laws. In-house legal interns may act as a sort of corporate detective, tracking who is using their company’s intellectual property and scouring the Internet for anything the company can take action against. You may even be called upon to assist with more public relations-type tasks, such as drafting press releases or assisting with quarterly reports to the board.

Tips for Thriving in Art Law Internships

When you’re in an art law internship, success starts with your approach. Take initiative to learn about the practice, develop your skills, and seize every opportunity to network and grow your career. Here are some tips to get you started: Make networking part of your internship. This means going to opening receptions, auctions, gallery parties, and conferences in addition to your official duties. Follow up with the people you’ve met over the course of your internship after its conclusion. Offer to run an errand, assist with a project, or ask them out for a coffee meeting to talk about art law opportunities. Be proactive. Don’t wait for someone to tell you what you should be doing. Find out what hours you should be keeping and what responsibilities you should be taking on ahead of time. If there’s a special project that you want to work on, raise your hand early and often until you have a chance to prove what you can do. Also, be ready to take on tasks you haven’t done before with enthusiasm and an eagerness to learn. Cultivate a mentor. Interns who find a supportive mentor are often able to gain more from an internship than interns who are simply left to do whatever they were assigned. If you can, try to get an idea of what opportunities are available after your internship ends and how to get them. Ask your supervisor or mentor whether they have any suggestions for credentialing/designations you can pursue, volunteer efforts that will help you to build your resume, or bar associations and professional organizations that you should join to continue expanding your network. Always ask questions. In fact, when deadlines are looming and no one is able to provide you with the answers you need, you want to be seen as proactive rather than passive. Put aside your fear of asking dumb questions, and just do it. Most people are happy to answer questions or refer you to someone else who can answer your question.

Career Perspectives Following Art Law Internships

Both law firms and cultural institutions increasingly offer art law internships. These provide opportunities to acquire practical experience in the realm of art law. Interns are given a taste of what their legal careers may involve and take part in the preparation of publications, research, and case inputs. They also gain insight into the inner workings of a law firm or cultural institution. These positions are generally unpaid. However, the value gained from these experiences in terms of practical knowledge and networking opportunities takes them beyond simple monetary reimbursement.
Private practice offers one of the most immediately obvious routes for those interested in a career in art law. In addition, public interest and academic lawyers may also have the potential to develop an art law specialty. Many hiring decisions made by law firms do not hinge on a demonstrated specialization in a particular area of law. Therefore, an art law internship in a law office may lead to a position as a paralegal. From this experience, one may be considered for a law degree and then hired as an associate. The success of this trajectory ultimately depends on market conditions and how the candidate has developed their candidacy.
Museums , galleries, and other cultural institutions have engaged counsel to oversee and advise them on a regular basis. The demand for such services is projected to continue increasing. A lawyer offered a position at a museum, for example, may be in a supervisory role over the entire legal department or over a specialized area of law. This may include advising on maritime art law matters, employment issues, or general regulatory and transactional matters. Those seeking to combine a legal career with a passion for art may seek post-graduate studies in art history and art-related internships. These are considered adjudicable proxies for experience in the art industry.
Some public interest opportunities are available at international organizations. For example, lawyers may provide essential services at the United Nations, providing critical legal documents, advise on international treaties, and protect the legal interests of nations. The lawyers working in international organizations have two common characteristics: practical experience in their individual fields and fluency in multiple languages.