FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kelly Lizarraga, Cultural Heritage Partners, PLLC
Phone: (703) 913-4818
Email: kellyl@culturalheritagepartners.com
Richmond, Virginia – March 13, 2024. Cultural Heritage Partners, PLLC (“CHP”) is delighted to announce the promotion of Dr. Jennifer Morris, a lawyer and art historian, to Partner, effective February 26, 2024.
Dr. Morris leads CHP’s Art and Museum Law practice and has been with the firm since 2016. Dr. Morris holds a Ph.D. in Art & Archaeology from Princeton University and a J.D. from the Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the College of William & Mary. She is a summa cum laude graduate from Duke University in Art, Art History, & Visual Studies.
Marion Werkheiser, founding partner of CHP, said: “Our clients love working with Dr. Morris because she leverages both her valuable subject matter expertise and legal knowledge to achieve positive outcomes. Her specialized background means she often sees answers where others only see problems.”
Clients seek out Dr. Morris to help negotiate transactions involving artworks, antiquities, and rare natural history specimens, including paleontological artifacts such as dinosaur fossils. In addition to advising clients on provenance, title, and ownership concerns, Dr. Morris assists with due diligence, international trade controls, and compliance with state and federal legal requirements.
Dr. Morris’ practice helps her clients build bridges to preserve significant cultural heritage. She regularly advises museums on compliance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), including how to engage with American Indian tribes and achieve free, prior, and informed consent as required in the 2024 regulations.
“I am thrilled to lead CHP’s Art and Museum practice, especially during a time of unprecedented focus on provenance and ethical collecting practices. We have entered a new era of accountability for museums, auction houses, and private collectors, and I enjoy working with CHP’s clients to find practical solutions to complex questions of ownership and possession.”
Dr. Morris’ art history background is especially valuable in advising collectors and museums on their particular legal issues, which are often highly fact-specific. She has counseled museums, auction houses, and private individuals on collections management and best practices, non-profit board and governance issues, and title disputes. She has litigation and alternative dispute resolution experience in matters concerning looted antiquities, Holocaust-era forced sales, and recovery of stolen cultural property.
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About Cultural Heritage Partners, PLLC
CHP is a private law firm with a public mission: to leverage humanity’s past to create a better future. CHP takes on matters that advance the principle of access to cultural heritage as a human right. A team of attorneys, historians, tribal specialists, archaeologists, and art scholars serves clients globally. The firm’s victories have strengthened international and federal preservation law, secured the protection of important sites, objects, and traditions, affirmed the sovereignty of Tribal and First Nations, and helped communities whose culture has been systematically devalued be heard in the courts, legislatures, and before international tribunals. To learn more, visit https://www.culturalheritagepartners.com/.