Cristina Manasse integrates her experience and expertise in corporate and commercial law, art and IP law and more recent involvement with digital legal issues, not only for the art world and the business of art but also for disruptive tech companies.  In addition to working with her "of counsel" network of lawyers, she also often works closely with larger law firms.

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She started practicing as a lawyer in Milan in the early 90s in corporate and commercial law.  While working in the Milan office of an international law firm, she was given a long-term assignment to advise a prestigious art auction house, which led her into art law.  Over the next several decades Cristina advised clients in all parts of the art world and the business of art.  In recent years she has expanded her practice to counsel on the transactional issues of startups and other disruptive tech companies. 

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Art & Culture.  In art and culture law, Cristina advises participants in the art world on all legal issues related to art and photography law,  and intellectual property (e.g., licensing, restitution, digitization, exhibitions, purchase & sale, inheritance, title & provenance, forgeries and IP rights protection) and also on digital matters and business models.  She advises private and institutional collectors, museums, art galleries, auction houses, cultural organizations, artists, fair organizers and sponsors, media & broadcasting companies and publishers.

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In many of her projects she brings her broad and deep expertise to bear:  For seven years she was the main legal advisor to an international art fair, drafting all agreements involved in the organization of the fair, the creation of the platform, the IP issues of all its organization, the drafting of rulings for awards, contracts for sponsors, dealing with collecting societies, etc.

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Disruptive Tech.  In commercial and corporate law, she drafts and negotiates agreements relating to mergers & acquisitions, joint ventures, international distribution and licensing, terms of use and privacy policies.

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Lectures & Publications.  She is the author of various articles, a regular speaker at international and national conferences on art law and art-related and IP topics and a visiting lecturer for various graduate programs, including Bocconi University (where she is researcher affiliate and specialist on art law and IP at the ASK Centre, and lectures also at SDA – Master MAMA and Master ACME as Photography/Art law specialist), NABA, Luiss, and the University of Milan.  She served as a teaching assistant in Civil and Private law (Prof. De Nova and Prof Trimarchi) for twelve years.

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From 2006 through 2008 she was co-chair and chairman of the Art, Cultural Institutions and Heritage Law Committee of the International Bar Association, after having served in various other capacities as an officer of that committee from 2001.  She was also the Italian national representative to the European Lawyers Association.

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She is a columnist for the US legal publication on IP issues, New Matters and the European publication,  Aperitivo Illustrato

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