Park West Galleries, Inc. v. Hochman, No. 11-1175 (6th Cir. 2012)
Annotate this CasePark sells art from its gallery, online, by catalog, and by phone, and conducts auctions in different cities and on cruise ships. Franks, CEO of Global Fine Art Registry, published online articles alleging that Park engaged in suspect business practices and sold inauthentic art. Park sued, claiming defamation, tortious interference, interference with prospective business advantage, and civil conspiracy to destroy goodwill and reputation. During trial, the district court gave several warnings and sanctioned Franks’s counsel for failure to honor rulings regarding improper lines of questioning. Despite repeated instances of misconduct, Park did not request a mistrial. The jury returned a verdict in favor of defendants on defamation, tortious interference with business expectancies, and civil conspiracy, but did not find in favor of defendants on counterclaims. The jury found in favor of GFAR on its Lanham Act counterclaim and awarded $500,000.00. The district court decided that the misconduct was serious enough that there was a reasonable probability that the verdict was influenced and granted a new trial. The Sixth Circuit affirmed denial of a motion to reinstate the verdict. Failure to seek a mistrial based on misconduct occurring during the trial did not waive Park’s right to seek a new trial under FRCP 59.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.