[MSN] $9.9M Award Upheld for Mont. Art Expert

[Museum Security Network Mailinglist]

$9.9M Award Upheld for Mont. Art Expert

The Associated Press
Wednesday, March 14, 2007; 11:20 PM

GREAT FALLS, Mont. -- An art expert who was unfairly sued in a dispute over a painting he said was a forgery should receive $9.9 million in punitive damages, the Montana Supreme Court said.

Steve Seltzer determined the watercolor "Lassoing a Longhorn," which was supposedly signed by the painter C.M. Russell in 1913, was actually created by his own grandfather, artist O.C. Seltzer, a friend of Russell's.

The painting is owned by Steve Morton, an heir to the Morton Salt fortune. As a Russell, the painting is worth $800,000; as a work by O.C. Seltzer, only about $80,000, according to court testimony.

Morton sued in 2002 in federal court, claiming the painting's pedigree was damaged. But with nine affidavits backing Seltzer's assessment, the federal lawsuit was dropped.

Seltzer then filed a malicious prosecution and abuse of process lawsuit in state court against Morton, attorney Dennis Gladwell and Gladwell's former firm, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher. He alleged that the suit had damaged his reputation as an expert on his grandfather's work.

Jurors agreed and in 2005 awarded Seltzer $20 million in punitive damages and $1.1 million in compensatory damages. The punitive damages were later reduced by District Judge Dirk Sandefur to $9.9 million, which the state Supreme Court unanimously upheld Monday.

Seltzer's attorney, Zander Blewett III, said his client should get about $13.5 million in damages, adding in interest while the case was under appeal.

Morton's attorneys did not return phone calls seeking comment.

http://www.washingtonpost.com