Pierre is the partner in charge of the Art & Cultural Property Law Group practice. Pierre has spent the last 25 years advising art collectors and art businesses on the law, first as in-house counsel to Sotheby’s and more recently as a partner of Withers LLP. Pierre’s clients include art collectors, art galleries, art dealers, auction houses, artists, museums, private banks, family offices, insurance companies and art investment funds. About half of his clients are based in the UK and the rest of Europe, a quarter in the USA and the rest in the Middle East and Asia. “Pierre lives and breathes art law. He is very well respected and is known by clients and other professionals in the art market as the go-to lawyer, particularly where there is a contentious angle” Chambers and Partners UK: Solicitors, A Client’s Guide, 2017 edition. He represents clients in the High Court and the Court of Appeal in matters of ownership, valuation of art, fraud, authenticity, Nazi restitutions, and foreign nation recoveries. A firm believer in mediation, he supports clients through the mediation process. He has recently represented clients in LCIA arbitrations. Pierre is praised by commentators as “one of the best exponents of art law in the business.” “A veritable giant in the field, he introduced art law to the firm, and now oversees a team looking after art collectors, artists and galleries, museums and foundations.”, says UK Spear’s 500, the annual publication that recognises the top private client advisers, wealth managers, lawyers and service providers for HNW individuals. Pierre structures, negotiates and documents the sale and purchase of blue-chip art and collectibles. He has a wealth of experience in handling all aspects of complex international transactions. He has for many years acted for private banks lending against art in the USA, Europe and Asia. He is well known for his expertise in art finance. ‘Exceptional’ Pierre Valentin, who is ‘prompt to respond and concise in his advice’, and ‘creative and conscientious’ Legal 500 – 2011 Edition. Pierre has been highly recommended as an expert on heritage property by Legal Experts year-on-year since 2008. Pierre is regularly called upon to advise on intellectual property rights, with a particular emphasis on copyright and the resale right. He is a trustee of the Artist’s Collecting Society, one of the two societies collecting copyright and the resale right on behalf of artists in the UK. Pierre advises art market professionals and businesses on a wide range of regulatory issues including import & export controls, anti-money laundering, endangered species and consumer protection. He is a qualified CEDR mediator. He is an accredited mediator to the World Intellectual Property Office in Geneva. Pierre Valentin “is streets ahead of most in his field” Legal 500 – 2010 Edition.

Simon Yeung is Of Counsel in the Firm’s Commercial Litigation and Antitrust Litigation groups and is involved in the Firm’s Art Law practice.

Simon’s practice focuses on commercial disputes, including competition damages claims and art-related claims. He acts for clients in proceedings before the English courts, and in arbitration proceedings. He has previously acted for clients in proceedings in offshore jurisdictions, and in relation to a number of multi-jurisdictional investigations.

Simon has acted for a wide range of corporate clients, including a number of leading retailers in a competition damages claim, an insurance broker over a team move, and an investment fund, among others. Simon also acts on behalf of galleries and dealers, as well as private clients in relation to their art collections. His experience includes payment and financial services, as well as construction, among others.

Simon read General Engineering (with Civil Engineering) at Durham University before completing the GDL and LPC at the College of Law in York.

Emelyne is an associate in the London office of Constantine Cannon LLP. She specialises in Art & Cultural Property Law and Commercial Dispute Resolution. Emelyne also assists teams in the Antitrust Litigation and Counselling group.

Within the Art & Cultural Property Law Group, Emelyne represents a broad range of clients, including collectors, galleries, auction houses and artists on a variety of domestic or international, contentious, non-contentious and regulatory matters.

Emelyne also has experience supporting high profile clients through various modes of dispute resolution including litigation, judicial review, arbitration or mediation.

She has presented at Christie’s Education London, the New College of the Humanities and Sotheby’s Institute of Art in London.

Prior to joining Constantine Cannon LLP, Emelyne interned in the Restitution Department of Christie’s London and separately gained experience in London City and Paris law firms.

Fionnuala is a consultant lawyer in the art and cultural property group with 7 years’ experience exclusively working in international Art and Cultural Property Law, with a particular interest in cultural property and extensive experience in the Middle East where she regularly works.
Fionnuala advises on all aspects of art law including cultural property and the repatriation, seizure and export of antiquities; worldwide touring exhibitions, art and technology, auction guarantees, cross border transactions, art funds and alternative investments.

Fionnuala is regularly consulted on policy, legislation and international reports in relation to cultural property and the art world, most notably: the UK Government’s Ivory Act 2018, the 2019 DCMS consultation on measures to strengthen the retention of National Treasures, the UN Special Rapporteur’s report to the UN Assembly regarding destruction of cultural property during conflict; the UN Abu Dhabi Declaration regarding safeguarding of cultural property; the Council of Europe Convention on the Deliberate Destruction and Illegal Trafficking of Cultural Property (Nicosia Convention), the EU Cultural Property Import Regulations. Fionnuala has also been invited to present on upcoming legislation at the European Parliament and represented the UK at the EU and UNESCO summit Fighting Illicit Trafficking in Cultural Property in November 2018.

Prior to joining Constantine Cannon, Fionnuala co-founded the Pinsent Masons International Art Group in 2012 where she continues to advise their middle eastern clients as a consultant.

Fionnuala received a first class honours degree in Philosophy and Social Anthropology from Queen’s University Belfast and has a first class honours in Law from the University of Law. Fionnuala qualified in England and Wales in 2012.

Penny joined Constantine Cannon’s Art & Cultural Property Law Group practice in 2021.

Penny combines her interdisciplinary financial services and corporate law background with her deep interest and engagement with the contemporary arts to provide art market professionals and businesses on a range of art market issues, including drafting of contracts, regulatory considerations including anti-money laundering and import-export controls, financial services products relating to the art market, including asset-backed lending and art fund structures.

Prior to joining Constantine Cannon in 2021, Penny was General Counsel at leading independent financial advisory firm Campbell Lutyens, specialising in raising private equity, infrastructure and private credit funds from institutional investors worldwide and advising on the secondary sale and restructuring of portfolios of direct or fund investments.

In this role, Penny has worked with leading global private equity, infrastructure and private credit fund managers to advise on the establishment and structuring of private funds and co-investment vehicles, securities law and regulatory considerations in marketing and distributing private funds globally and fund terms.

In 2019, Penny completed an MA in Art Business at Sotheby’s Institute of Art, earning a distinction.

Penny was a previously director at investment bank Barclays Capital, overseeing legal risk issues for the private equity and principal investing teams.

Prior to Barclays Capital, Penny worked in the corporate law department at Baker & McKenzie, London and the corporate and commercial law department at Minter Ellison in New Zealand.