ZVMLaw Scores Win in New York Federal Court on Behalf of Prominent Violin Experts, Dealers, and Auction Houses

On September 28, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued an order granting the ZVMLaw team’s motion to dismiss a claim for product disparagement brought by a violin owner who sought to authenticate that a violin in his possession was produced by renowned Italian violin maker Antonio Stradivari.  The plaintiff alleged that ZVMLaw clients Brompton’s Auctioneers Limited, Beare Violins Limited, Florian Leonhard Fine Violins. Inc., and Joe W. Robson were liable for product disparagement under New York law on account of statements they made allegedly calling into question the authenticity of the violin.

In dismissing the complaint, the opinion held that the plaintiff failed to allege special damages—a required element of product disparagement in New York—with regard to his attempted sale of the violin, concluding that his allegation that “the contemplated sale was in the ‘$9- to $10 million range’ is an approximation of damages insufficient as a matter of law.”  The court also denied the plaintiff’s accompanying motion to amend his complaint to add a claim for tortious interference with economic relations, finding that the plaintiff “asserts a broad set of sensational allegations without providing a plausible connection between them and the alleged interference.”

The ZVMLaw team is led by Zachary V. Moen and Daniel A. Grossman and also includes Anne E. Linder and Mackenzie C. Burns.