Thaddeus J. Stauber

Thaddeus J. Stauber is a partner in Nixon Peabody LLP’s Commercial Litigation and International Arbitration groups and is head of the firm’s Art and Cultural Institutions team. In court room trials and proceedings involving commercial matters, federal contracts, real estate, intellectual property and privacy rights, personal reputations, contractual disputes, contested estates, wrongful death claims, insurance coverage and priceless art masterpieces, Thad has successfully represented his clients’ interests, including winning cases in state and federal courts around the country and other arbitral bodies. In just the last several years, he has argued and won highly contested cases in state and federal courts ranging from California to Ohio to Louisiana to New York.

Thad began his career as a criminal defense and civil trial attorney. He has presented, cross examined, and deposed witnesses from all walks of life, including high ranking governmental and foreign officials, company presidents and CFOs, boards of directors and trustees, attorneys, valuation and accounting experts, entertainment industry players, widows, death row and state penitentiary inmates, police officers, victims of major crimes, juveniles, Holocaust survivors, art curators and historians, professors, and students.

His clients include the world’s leading cultural institutions, foreign sovereigns, public agencies, international art collectors and dealers, private equity investors, commercial real estate entities, entertainment related companies, private companies, and individuals. His litigation and court room skills, judgment, and negotiation abilities have won his clients tens of millions of dollars, saved hundreds of jobs, kept innocent men and women out of prison, and protected company and personal reputations and assets.

In addition to his litigation work, Thad represents museums, major collectors, and dealers in significant transactions, including recently serving as deal counsel on the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and Fisher Family agreement. The SFMOMA-Fisher Agreement brought the world renowned Fisher Collection to SFMOMA and includes a complex development agreement put together by Thad as the road map for SFMOMA’s expansion over the next five years.

As a former general counsel and advisor to the firm’s Public Finance group, Thad has been an integral team member helping our team assist clients in nearly $1 billion in public financings for major museum projects across the country.