May 17, 2022
Law360 / Written by:
Joshua Wurtzel
The Second Circuit recently held that the COVID-19 pandemic and Governor Cuomo’s 2020 shutdown orders triggered a force majeure clause in an art auction contract, entitling an auction house to cancel its contract with its customer because it was unable to hold an in-person auction. While the outcome of this decision was correct, according to Schlam Stone & Dolan partner Joshua Wurtzel in this “Expert Analysis” article published in Law360, its reasoning was all wrong, and if followed by state courts, runs the risk of drastically altering how courts interpret force majeure clauses in contracts.
Coverage of the case can be found here:
- Law360, published on May 17, 2022