Properly Invoked to Terminate Auction Consignment Contract
On December 16, 2020, Judge Denise Cote of the United States
District Court for the Southern District of New York issued an
Opinion and Order holding, as a matter of first impression, that
the Covid-19 pandemic was a “natural disaster” within
the meaning of a
force majeure clause.
Therefore, the Court held, an auction house was excused from
performing a consignment contract. See
JN Contemporary
Art LLC v. Phillips Auctioneers LLC, 2020 WL
7405262 (S.D.N.Y. 2020).
Background
In June 2019, JN Contemporary
Act LLC (“JN”) and Phillips
Auctioneers LLC (“Phillips”) entered into a
consignment agreement, in which Phillips agreed to auction a