Plumb, et al. v. Casey (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-155-14)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA, 02108-1750; (617) 557-1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us SJC-11519 EVE PLUMB & others[1] vs. DEBORA A. CASEY, trustee.[2] Suffolk. April 8, 2014. – September 8, 2014. Present: Ireland, C.J., Spina, Cordy, Botsford, Gants, Duffly, & Lenk, JJ.[3] Art. Consignment. Certification of a question of law to the Supreme Judicial Court by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts. Andrew Z. Schwartz (Joshua S. Pemstein with him) for the plaintiffs. Kathleen R. Cruickshank for the defendant. Steven B. Levine, Nicolas M. Dunn, William D. Currie, & Jessica T. Lu, for Arts & Business Council of Greater Boston & another, amici curiae, submitted a brief. DUFFLY, J. The consignment of fine art is governed by G. L. c. 104A, which provides that, upon delivery of a work of fine art to a consignee, the consignor shall provide a written statement with specified information about the work.[4] See G. L. c. 104A, § 2 (b). A judge of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts has certified the following question pursuant to S.J.C. Rule 1:03, as appearing in 382 Mass. 700 (1981), concerning the effect of a consignor’s failure to deliver a written statement as required by G. L. c. 104A, § 2 (b): “Under Mass. Gen. Laws. c. 104A, the Massachusetts fine art consignment statute (‘Chapter 104A’), must a consignor transmit a written ‘statement of delivery’ to a consignee as a necessary prerequisite to the formation of a ‘consignment’; or, alternatively, under Chapter 104A does a consignment arise upon the delivery by a consignor, and acceptance by a consignee, of a work of fine art for sale on consignment, regardless of whether a written ‘statement of delivery’ is sent by the consignor?” For the reasons we discuss, we answer, “No, a written statement of delivery is not a prerequisite for the formation of a consignment under G. L. c. 104A.” Background. We summarize certain undisputed facts in the order of certification and in the record before us. Kenneth Wynne, III, and Allison Wynne (the Wynnes) owned and operated Wynne Fine Art, Inc. (Wynne Gallery), in Chatham. Wynne Gallery accepted art works that the creditor artists delivered to the gallery, and agreed to sell the art works and pay fifty per cent of the proceeds to the creditor artists. In 2013, the Wynnes filed for personal bankruptcy under Chapter 7 of the United […]