L. Eden Burgess

Washington Office
703.965.5380 direct
eden@culturalheritagepartners.com

Eden’s practice focuses on art, cultural heritage, museum and intellectual property law. She has represented foreign states, museums, auction houses, major collectors, nonprofits and other entities, both as claimants and claim recipients, in a wide variety of cases. She has litigated and settled complex claims involving Nazi seizures, wartime looting, forced sales and thefts. Eden assists clients with the maintenance and management of their collections and provides advice on art and antiquity transactions, such as auctions, purchases and sales. In addition, Eden writes and speaks about a broad range of art, cultural heritage and museum issues, including museum governance, immunity from seizure and Nazi-looted art. She is also interested in managing and navigating the National Historic Preservation Act’s Section 106 process, supporting historic preservation efforts on the state and federal levels, and providing advice and representation in Indian tribe-related disputes.

Her intellectual property experience includes trial and appellate litigation in copyright, trademark and patent. Eden has also been active in alternative dispute resolution in many types of matters.

Eden obtained her Bachelor’s Degree with Distinction from the University of Virginia, where she was an Echols Scholar, and her Juris Doctor with honors from George Washington University Law School. She is admitted to practice in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia.

PUBLICATIONS

  • Contributing Editor, Yearbook of Cultural Property Law
  • “Museum Governance Developments: Trustees Taking Greater Responsibility,” Yearbook of Cultural Property Law (2007)
  • Co-Author, “Art Market” Chapter in Yearbook of Cultural Property Law (2009 and 2010)
  • Contributor/Assistant, “Art Market” Chapter in Yearbook of Cultural Property Law (2006, 2007 and 2008)

REPRESENTATIVE ENGAGEMENTS

  • Represent tribal government in issues related to state recognition process.
  • Provide government affairs counsel to the American Cultural Resources Association, the trade association for the cultural resource management industry.
  • Provide government affairs counsel to the Society for Historical Archaeology, the largest scholarly group concerned with the archaeology of the modern world.
  • Advise tribal government on obtaining compensation for destruction of a cultural and religious site.
  • Advise and provide government affairs counsel to cultural resource management firm on government contracting issues, including 8(a) certification and federal agency disputes.
  • Vineberg v. Bissonnette, 529 F. Supp. 2d 300 (D.R.I. 2007), aff’d, 548 F.3d 50 (1st Cir. 2008). Assisted estate in recovering Franz Xaver Winterhalter’s painting Madchen aus den Sabiner Bergen from a private collector. The case is a landmark ruling in Holocaust-era art restitution law, being the first in the United States to find that a forced sale is a theft and therefore title does not pass to the buyer.
  • State of Baden-Württemburg v. Shene, 04-cv-10067-TPG, 2009 WL 762697 (S.D.N.Y. March 23, 2009). Represented German state and museum in its successful recovery of a 16th century volume of prints and drawings from a St. Louis book dealer. The decision – a rare grant of summary judgment in favor of a claimant – highlights the rule that military engaged in overseas combat should be safeguarding and not stealing cultural objects they encounter.
  • Malewicz v. City of Amsterdam, 362 F. Supp. 2d 298 (D.D.C. 2005), 2006 U.S. App. LEXIS 615 (D.C. Cir. 2006), and 517 F. Supp. 2d 322 (D.D.C. 2007). Served as local counsel, helping pursue recovery of fourteen works of Kazimir Malewicz on loan from the Stedelijk Museum to museums in the United States. The heirs and the City eventually settled the case.
  • Doss, Inc. v. Christie’s Inc., 08-cv-10577-LAP, 2009 WL 3053713 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 23, 2009). Defended against negligence and breach of contract claims brought by a collector related to a purchase of a painting, and successfully obtained dismissal due to the expiration of applicable statutes of limitations.
  • Marchig v. Christie’s Inc., 762 F. Supp. 2d 667 (S.D.N.Y. 2011), aff’d, 2011 WL 2685608 (2d Cir. July 12, 2011). Defended against breach of fiduciary duty, breach of warranty, negligence, and replevin and conversion claims brought by a consignor, arising from 1998 sale of a drawing alleged by some experts to be the work of Leonardo da Vinci and worth over $100M. The firm successfully obtained dismissal of the case due to expiration of the statutes of limitations and unreasonable delay.
  • Wyers v. Master Lock Co., 616 F.3d 1231 (Fed. Cir. 2010). Represented Master Lock Corporation before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on appeal of lower court’s ruling against Master Lock that the three patents at issue were valid as a matter of law. The Federal Circuit reversed, and issued a significant precedential opinion in Master Lock’s favor that interpreted the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion in KSR v. Teleflex, expanding the Court’s application of common sense as a motivation to combine prior art references to invalidate patents.
  • United States v. Six Paintings Seized From Paul Gorzocoski III, d/b/a Northfield Auctions, Civ. Act. No. 08-10161-RWZ (D. Mass. 2008). Assisted claimant in recovering six paintings discovered at an auction house in Massachusetts, missing from the Bavarian State Painting Collection (BSPC) since the mid-1940s. The paintings – acquired by BSPC in 1799 and never deaccessioned – were described by the auction house as coming from the estate of a World War II veteran.
  • Bakalar v. Vavra, 619 F.3d 136 (2d Cir. 2010). On behalf of a group of non-profit organizations as amici, submitted a brief seeking to reverse the lower court’s ruling based upon its incorrect interpretation and application of Swiss law. The Second Circuit vacated the district court judgment on other grounds and remanded the case.
  • In the Matter of Certain Flooring Products, Investigation No. 337-TA-443 and Alloc, Inc. v. International Trade Commission, 342 F.3d 1361 (Fed. Cir. 2003). Represented respondent in an action before the International Trade Commission and appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, in which complainants sought to prevent import of flooring products due to patent infringement. The ITC found no infringement by the respondents, and the Federal Circuit affirmed.

SEMINARS & SPEECHES

  • “Government Affairs Workshop,” Society for California Archaeology’s 47th Annual Meeting, Berkeley, CA, 2013.
  • “The Arts on Capitol Hill,” 5th Annual Art Litigation and Dispute Resolution Practice Institute, New York, NY, 2012.
  • “Copyright: Are You Breaking the Law?,” American Cultural Resources Association’s 18th Annual Conference, Seattle, WA, 2012.
  • “Preservation Law and Risk Management,” Preservation Virginia Statewide Conference, Leesburg, VA, 2012.
  • “The Arts on Capitol Hill,” New York County Lawyers’ Association, NY, NY, 2012.
  • “Art Looting in the Third Reich” (March 14, 2012)
  • “What is Art and Cultural Property Law?” (March 23, 2011)
  • “What is Art Law? Art, Cultural Property and Museum Law and Practice” (October 21, 2009)
  • “Art and Cultural Property Displaced by War and Other Conflict,” George Washington Museum Studies Program (March 2008, March 2009, April 2010 and March 2011)
  • “The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act as Applied to Recent Art Restitution Disputes,” The Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property, American University Washington College of Law (October 8, 2007) (Co-presenter)

TEACHING

  • Professorial Lecturer in Law at George Washington University Law School in Art, Cultural Heritage, and the Law

MEMBERSHIPS

  • American Bar Association
  • Lawyers’ Committee for Cultural Heritage Preservation

IN THE PRESS

  • Featured in the June 2009 issue of Legal Bisnow
  • Featured in “Lost and Found: Alumni Help Return Stolen Art and Cultural Artifacts,” Colonial Cable, George Washington University (November 2011)