And the Oscar Goes To... A Biglaw Firm?

Winning a case is a good thing, but getting some Oscar swag out of the deal is even better.

Usually, in Biglaw when you win a big case you get a nice celebratory meal. Perhaps a quality bottle of bubbly is sent to your office. But when you rep an entertainment industry giant, you get to up your victory game. John Quinn has been the General Counsel of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for 30 years, so when the Academy is ramping up for a litigation tussle, you know who they call.

You see, the Academy has a vested interest in maintaining the value of their Oscar statuettes, they don’t want winners (or their heirs) who have fallen on hard times selling the prized trophies to the highest bidder. It would be… uncouth for there to be a market for Oscars and the inherent value of the award would take a hit. So in 1951 the Academy instituted bylaws that granted the Academy the right of first refusal (for a mere $10) if an winner or their heirs wished to sell, and all nominees were asked to sign “winner’s agreements” binding them to these terms.

Quinn Emanuel represented the Academy in a recent case versus Briarbrook Auctions where the Academy was set on maintaining their right of first refusal if/when winners want to sell. The heir of Joseph Wright, who won an Oscar in 1943 for color art direction on the film My Gal Sal, challenged the Academy’s right of first refusal since it was won before the Academy instituted its bylaws and “winner’s agreements” were de rigeur. But invoking some old skool legal principles, Quinn Emanuel prevailed. In the words of John Quinn:

On behalf of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, we recently vindicated the enforceability of its right of first refusal to buy back its Oscar statuettes for $10. Doing so required us to litigate a rarely invoked aspect of property law, “equitable servitude,” as applied to a unique piece of personal property, the Oscar statuette.

If you don’t remember that legal nugget from your bar review, fear not — it isn’t a frequently employed one.

More importantly, the court here affirmed as a matter of law that a restriction on alienability can run with the chattel, therefore binding the winner’s successors to the Academy’s right of first refusal. The briefs and the court’s opinion cited cases and legal commentaries going back to the 16th century.

And the firm’s reward for a job well done, well, besides their fees? It’s an Oscar. The firm hasn’t actually won the prized trophy, as John Quinn is quick to point out:

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Oscars are only given for achievements in filmmaking and we’re just lawyers.

But it is on loan from the Academy and it will be displayed at Quinn HQ, just as soon as a sufficiently secure display can be installed.

Congrats to Quinn Emanuel both on the win and the unique piece of swag.

Academy’s Method of Restricting Oscar Statuette Sales Upheld in Court [The Hollywood Reporter]

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