Randol Schoenberg ’91 approaches every task with a litigator’s mind
When E. Randol Schoenberg ’91 set out to win what would become the biggest art restitution case ever fought, he had no background in art law, and he definitely wasn’t an art lawyer. “I was just a regular litigator,” he says, “who happened to handle a very important case dealing with artwork.”
A regular litigator? How did he fight Republic of Austria v. Altmann in front of the Supreme Court and recover for his
client five paintings valued at over $325 million that Nazi authorities had stolen during the Holocaust?
How did he become the Randol Schoenberg of Woman in Gold movie fame? And if he’s not an art lawyer, how
does he teach the Art Law course each spring at the USC Gould School of Law?
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| Each spring, Schoenberg teaches Gould's Art Law course from a "litigation perspective." |
have to be an expert in your business,” the litigator says. “But when you present me with a case, I have to understand
it well enough that I can explain it to a judge, a jury or another lawyer. That’s a fun skill to have, and that’s
what good lawyers have.”
Schoenberg has drawn on the skill many times, even beyond the courtroom. When he became the board president of the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust in 2005 and suddenly found himself curating the new permanent exhibit, he approached the task like a lawsuit. “The Holocaust is this enormous subject, and I was never going to be the world’s expert on anything,” Schoenberg says. “But I wanted to make sure that we covered the basics. It’s very much like lawyering. You have to distill something to a few photographs, a few facts and present it in that way.”
Schoenberg applied the same principle four years ago, when USC Gould asked him to teach the Art Law
course. “I teach the course from a litigation perspective and provide practical insight into cases and learning art
law. Sometimes it’s a matter of knowing whether something is worth litigating or not.”
Covering issues as diverse as indigenous cultures, looted and stolen art, and the rights of artists, the curriculum
reviews how topics from courses like criminal, constitutional or contract law apply to the art world. Schoenberg knows that his students enjoy the course. “The cases tend to be interesting,” he says. “Besides, every time I talk about a case I try to find a pretty picture for everybody to look at.”
On Nov. 8, USC Gould will host a special screening of Woman in Gold, followed by a Q&A and reception. Reservations required by Oct. 30 - EVENT IS SOLD OUT, BUT ACCEPTING WAITLIST RESERVATIONS
via phone 213. 740.1744 Parking in PSA Parking: $12.
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