Chase College of Law will present the first public lecture 鈥 a lawyer鈥檚 account of聽recovering artwork stolen during the Holocaust 鈥 of the college鈥檚 newly endowed David and Nancy Wolf聽Chair in Ethics and Professional Identity.
The presentation by Los Angeles lawyer E. Randol Schoenberg, followed by his conversation with Chase聽Professor Jack Harrison, who holds the Wolf Chair, will be Sept. 27 at the聽Cincinnati Museum Center, and is in partnership with the Nancy聽& David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center, located at the museum聽center.
Mr. Schoenberg is a litigator and grandson of Austrian-American聽composer Arnold Schoenberg, who fled Nazi persecution prior to World War II, who聽took on the challenge to recover for a family friend six paintings by Gustav聽Klimt held by an Austrian state museum that ultimately were valued at more than聽$325 million. Among them was 鈥淕olden Lady,鈥 an early 20th century portrait聽utilizing application of gold leaf, that gave name to the 2015 movie 鈥淲oman in聽Gold鈥 that recounted Mr. Schoenberg鈥檚 decade-long legal quest that began in the聽late 1990s. At the time, Mr. Schoenberg had been practicing law for about 10聽years.
Mr. Schoenberg successfully argued to the Supreme Court of聽the United States that his client, Maria Altman, from whose family the paintings
had been stolen in 1938 in Nazi Germany-aligned Austria, could sue Austria for their聽return. He subsequently prevailed in 2006 in arbitration in Austria that the聽paintings be returned to Ms. Altman, who had fled Austria following Germany鈥檚聽unopposed annexation of the country.
To attend the presentation by Mr. Schoenberg and conversation聽with Professor Harrison:
鈥 Free tickets are available at www.holocaustandhumanity.org/, utilizing the 鈥減rograms &聽events鈥 dropdown. 聽
鈥 The聽presentation and conversation is from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Sept. 27, with the Nancy聽& David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center museum open for tours聽beginning at 4:30 p.m., and followed by a reception beginning at 6:30 p.m. 聽
鈥 The聽Cincinnati Museum Center is at Union Terminal, 1301 Western Ave., in the Queensgate聽section of Cincinnati, near downtown.
鈥 Lawyers attending may request one hour of continuing legal education credit.
The David and Nancy Wolf Chair in Ethics and Professional聽Identity at Chase is endowed by alumnus David Wolf and Nancy Wolf to enable Chase聽to offer and to continually expand education in the areas of ethical conduct聽and social justice. It supports programming related to ethics and聽professionalism, including enhancements to pro bono and public interest service聽by students, training in diversity, equity and inclusion, recruitment of an聽ethicist-in-residence and development of lectureships in ethics and聽professional responsibility.
Professor Harrison teaches in the areas of torts, civil procedure,聽professional responsibility, and sexual orientation and the law. He also directs
the Chase Center for Excellence in Advocacy, which offers students experience聽primarily in courtroom advocacy. He practiced in major Cincinnati law firms聽prior to joining the Chase faculty in 2011.
