BAUM LLC was founded as a boutique law firm by David R. Baum in 2018. David is widely regarded as a leading authority in art, music, and entertainment law, and has extensive experience in complex commercial matters as well. Prior to founding his own firm, David was a long-time partner at Dentons, where he built a renowned international practice.
David has been consistently recognized for excellence by Chambers USA and Best Lawyers in America, and was recently ranked as one of the "Top 75 Art Professionals" by ARTnews, featured as one of the "Art World's 10 Most Powerful Lawyers" by Artnet Magazine, and named one of the 500 Leading Global Entertainment, Sports & Media Lawyers by Lawdragon. His insights are regularly sought by major media outlets including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and NPR.
David served as the Secretary of the Cy Twombly Foundation from 2014-2024, establishing and overseeing the operations of a non-profit organization managing art, financial, and real estate assets in excess of $4 billion. He currently sits on the boards of the Drawing Center in New York, the American Foundation for the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, and the Nairobi Contemporary Art Institute (NCAI), a non-profit initiated by artist Michael Armitage to support the arts in East Africa. He also represents the David Zwirner gallery in a variety of matters concerning numerous artists and estates around the world.
David has taught at graduate and undergraduate levels, including at NYU School of Law, Columbia Law School, Cardozo School of Law, NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, and Sotheby's Institute of Art, and presented programs for institutions and organizations such as Philadelphia Musuem of Art, Copyright Society of the U.S.A., Association of Professional Art Advisors, New York Public Library, International Fine Print Dealers Association, and Sony Music Entertainment. David's writing on art history has been published by the French academic journal Les Cahiers du Musée National D'Art Modern.
David graduated from NYU School of Law and Cornell University, College of Arts and Sciences, with honors. He started his legal career at Parcher, Hayes & Snyder, a prominent boutique firm focused on the entertainment industry.
SELECT REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS
* In the most important case ever litigated on moral rights, David successfully represented the Cy Twombly Foundation against the Louvre. The high-profile lawsuit was filed under French law in Paris in 2021 to reverse alterations in the Salles des Bronzes, the historic gallery that houses Twombly’s 3,800-square foot mural. David secured a pledge from the museum to reverse the changes to the walls, panels, and display cases.
* David successfully represented the Andrea Rosen Gallery in connection with resale restrictions pertaining to the most celebrated works by the minimalist conceptual artist Félix González-Torres.
* David successfully represented a foundation against the Estate of Madeline Gins in Surrogate’s Court for ownership of The Mechanism of Meaning, a sprawling work of conceptual art, prevailing on summary judgment and requiring the Estate to divest the work under the Attorney General's supervision and reimburse hundreds of thousands in legal fees.
* David has extensive experience negotiating sales of works and collections at auction, including a $69.6 million Cy Twombly "blackboard" painting at Christie's that more than tripled the record price for the artist. Other high value sales include works by Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Roy Lichtenstein, Jean Dubuffet, Ed Ruscha, and Bruce Nauman.
* David has handled valuable gifts and grants to museums and institutions that include the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Art Institute of Chicago, Whitney Museum of American Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and the Tate Museum in London.
* David successfully represented curator Oliver Wick in parallel Swiss and New York lawsuits regarding a forged Mark Rothko painting sold by Knoedler Gallery. He won a dismissal together with a judgment for legal fees in the Swiss courts, which led to a dismissal in New York. Wick is the only party in the Knoedler cases to win a dismissal and attorneys fees.
* David represented Leonardo DiCaprio and his foundation in connection with establishing the auction gala in St. Tropez, France that has raised millions for environmental causes, including biodiversity protection, ocean and forest conservation, and climate change mitigation.
* David successfully defended Ozzy Osbourne and his record label and publisher in California federal court in a lawsuit filed by the bassist and drummer on two classic multi-platinum albums, Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman, seeking millions in royalties. Daisley v. Osbourne, et al., 78 Fed. Appx. 594 (9th Cir. 2003), cert. denied, 541 U.S. 1030 (2004). The case was featured in a front-page Wall Street Journal article.
* In a landmark copyright case, David won summary judgment on a claim brought against the Beastie Boys and others for a sample in "Pass the Mic," a track on the multi-platinum album Check Your Head. A California federal court accepted David's legal and musical analysis in finding that the sample is insufficiently original to warrant protection. The decision was affirmed by the Ninth Circuit. Newton v. Diamond et al., 204 F. Supp. 2d 1244 (C.D. Cal. 2002), aff'd, 349 F.3d 591 (9th Cir. 2003).
* David won summary judgment for two banks against a billion dollar hedge fund that refused to redeem millions in trust preferred securities (known as "TruPS"). TruPS are a recent focus of bank regulators and this was the first known decision establishing liability. Leawood Bankshares Inc. v. Alesco Preferred Fundings X, Ltd., 823 F. Supp. 2d 244 (S.D.N.Y. 2011).
* As reported by ESPN and sports journals nationwide, David won summary judgment in Michigan federal court for NASCAR star driver Kasey Kahne on a breach of contract claim brought by Ford arising out of Kahne's departure to a Dodge-sponsored team. The court declareda key agreement non-binding because it failed to set forth material terms. Ford Motor Co. v. Kahne, 379 F. Supp. 857 (E.D. Mich., 2005).
* David won an injunction in Connecticut federal court against former employees, Genworth Financial, a leading investment firm, for the misappropriation of client information. Genworth Financial v. McMullan, 2010 WL 2428749 (D. Conn. 2010). David also won sanctions for defendants' failure to preserve electronic information. Genworth Financial v. McMullan, 267 F.R.D. 443 (D. Conn. 2010), often cited as important precedent regarding e-discovery obligations.
* Other clients in the music space include Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, Mariah Carey, The Allman Brothers, Pink, 'NSYNC, Wyclef Jean, TLC, and the Estates of The Notorious B.I.G., Jimi Hendrix, Woody Guthrie, and most major record and music publishing companies. Clients in the movie and television industry have included Dreamworks, AETV, MTV and others.
* David successfully represented Jeff Beck in connection with one of the most famous stolen instruments in rock and roll history . The two-time inductee into the Hall of Fame lost the guitar during the 1969 tour of the Jeff Beck Group with Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood. David obtained a dismissal of a lawsuit in New York brought by a dealer in 2018 who bought and sought to declare the guitar as his own.
* David brought a successful action concerning the unlawful sale by a prominent gallery of the painting Girl in Mirror by Roy Lichtenstein. Featured multiple times in The New York Times, the Financial Times, and New York Magazine, the case is now taught as a seminal case on the fiduciary duties of art dealers with respect to sellers and consignments.
* David represented the Cy Twombly Foundation in litigations against two of its directors for taking improper legal and investment fees. Following high-profile actions in Delaware Chancery Court and NY Surrogates Court, David achieved the resignations of both directors. Featured in The New York Times and other news outlets worlwide, the case is cited as a leading precedent for the governance of non-profit institutions.
* Based on an impromptu cross-examination of a witness on the stand, David won a multi-party Chapter 11 trial in California federal court over the control of Fremont General, a lender with over $800 million in NOLs and $100 million in book value. The victory was reported in business and bankruptcy journals across the country.
* David successfully represented a collector in efforts, together with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, to recover a famous painting by Mark Tansey that was sold unlawfully by a prominent New York gallery. As featured in The New York Times, the painting was recovered and thereafter donated in full to the museum. Metropolitan Museum of Art v. Safflane, 2012 WL 928148 (S.D.N.Y. 2012).
* David won summary judgment on behalf of Jay-Z and his production company, Marcy Projects, in New York Supreme Court on tortious interference claims asserted by R. Kelly. The dispute arose out of the artists' "Best of Both Worlds" tour in 2004.
* David represented Ford Models in connection with various ventures including the hit television show "Ameria's Next Top Model."
* David represented the Beatles in the negotiations with Cirque du Soleil to develop Love, a critically acclaimed theatrical production in Las Vegas.
* David successfully represented Carl Icahn and affiliate companies in Delaware federal court regarding CIT, a large commercial lender, and its pre-packaged bankruptcy plan involving a $4.5 billion credit facility.
* David successfully represented Britney Spears, BMG Music, and Zomba Records in Indiana federal court, winning dismissal of a copyright infringement claim over the hit “Sometimes” from the album Baby One More Time. David established that the song was written by Jörgen Elofsson, who also penned Spears' hit song "You Drive Me Crazy."
* David won dismissal of an action brought by an investor against the director and producers of the film “The Education of Charlie Banks,” the winner of the “Made In New York” award at the Tribeca Film Festival.
* David represented OnDeck Capital, the pioneer Fintech company, as it grew from a start up into the country's largest small business lender issuing over $6 billion in loans.
* David successfully defended Rounder Records, the premier independent record label, in an action by Napster to recover settlements paid to publishers that accused the peer to peer service of exploiting hundreds of musical compositions without proper licenses. David established that Napster misrepresented the license agreements at issue. Napster, LLC v. Rounder Records Corp., 2011 WL 240397 (S.D.N.Y. 2011).
* David won dismissal of a case for Sony Records concerning recordings by the group Third World. The decision is widely cited for the legal standard on the tolling of the statute of limitations on a copyright claim and the Copyright Act preemption of state law. Cooper v. Sony Records Int'l, 2001 WL 1223492 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 15, 2001).
* Other notable reported decisions on copyright include: Tisi v. Patrick, 97 F. Supp. 2d 539 (S.D.N.Y. 2000); Jorgensen v. Epic/Sony Records, 2002 WL 31119377 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 24, 2002); Jorgensen v. Careers BMG Music Pub., 2002 WL 1492123 (S.D.N.Y. July 11, 2002); Selletti v. Mariah Carey, 194 F.R.D. 476 (2d Cir. 2000); and Dimmie v. Mariah Carey, 88 F. Supp. 2d 142 (S.D.N.Y. 2000).