Art Law co-chair Megan Noh was named to the "The Power List: Top Female Attorneys in the Art World" by Art She Says, the leading media platform designed to empower women in the art industry. Noh is highlighted for "over 15 years of combined experience in private practice and both in-house legal and business positions in the auction world (including both risk management and business development roles in Christie’s valuations department, and as the sole U.S. legal officer for Bonhams), Megan Noh is sought after for her extensive knowledge of the complex issues impacting today’s art market, specifically with respect to transactional matters and artists’ rights. More recently, she has been raising public awareness of the use of contractual restrictions by emerging artists in the pursuit of market control and/or to secure a financial interest in secondary sales of their works. This has been a particularly topical focus, given the increasing use of emerging art as a speculative investment asset, and the art market’s recent focus on embracing wider social justice initiative." According to Art She Says:

“The field of art law only exists because of the talent and creative labor of artists… it all starts there. Most BFA and MFA programs don’t cover the fundamentals of key legal concepts relevant to visual art, such as the difference between the transfer of the copyright protecting an artwork and the sale of the physical work itself—or the use of contractual provisions to protect an artist’s market or secure a so-called ‘resale royalty.’ So when I am able to help lay some of that foundation, and an artist, as a result, feels more empowered to navigate their business relationships in this tricky industry, that feels like a meaningful contribution to the broader community of which we are all a part.”

The Biggest Challenge: “I strive to maintain a holistic practice, representing a wide variety of art market participants. Although all of my clients are active in the same industry, they obviously have different goals in the context of specific deals or disputes—not to mention different levels of risk tolerance and different budgets. The biggest challenge of my practice is switching back and forth between the different perspectives from which I alternately advocate, in order to come up with a tailored and ‘commercial’ solution.

On any given day, I may be negotiating on behalf of an auction consignor seeking to retain maximum flexibility on sale timing in light of COVID and market uncertainty, an artist seeking certain assurances from a gallery whose roster they are joining, or a broker seeking to preserve the confidentiality of their relationships and limit exposure in a back-to-back sale. And in most cases, I am drawing on past experience negotiating the other side of a similar deal.

This kind of variety can result in a bit of temporary whiplash, and I often need to take a moment to re-orient myself when things get frenetic. That said, maintaining a connection to different market segments and seeing transactions from multiple angles also really helps me keep my finger on the pulse of shifting norms and emerging issues.”

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