Vineberg v. Bissonnette

Dr. Max Stern, forced by the Nazi government to surrender his art gallery's inventory including a painting sold at below-market prices through the Lempertz Auction House before he fled Germany, spent decades after the war searching for his lost art through advertisements, travel, and legal efforts; his estate later hired the Art Loss Register and listed the painting on Germany's Lost Art Database, eventually tracing it to Baroness Bissonnette (defendant), who inherited it from the original 1930s-era purchaser. When Bissonnette consigned the painting to a Rhode Island auction house in 2003, the Register's notice led the auction house to withdraw it; after failed negotiations, Robert Vineberg and other Stern Foundation trustees (plaintiffs) sued for replevin or damages. Bissonnette raised laches, initially claiming prejudice from having to defend litigation and losing a sale opportunity, but on appeal argued instead, without specifics, that potential witnesses and evidence had become unavailable due to the delay; the district court rejected the laches defense and granted summary judgment for the plaintiffs.