In conversation with... William Charrington - commercial litigator and co-leader of our Art & Cultural Property team

This month, we interviewed William Charrington, Partner in Farrer & Co’s Dispute Resolution team, experienced in all aspects of the law surrounding art and cultural property. 

To start us off, can you tell us a bit about your career journey? Was law always the plan, or did you consider other paths before landing here?

The first job I had following university was as a tour guide in Latin America. That was a high-pressure job (!) and it wasn’t long before I decided to return to London where I worked as a runner in film production for a year. At a certain point, I got tired of driving cars and sourcing caffè lattes for Hollywood executives. I could see that most people in that industry had professions. They were trained actors, accountants, electricians, carpenters. I decided I needed a profession too. I applied for a training contract at Farrers and signed up for law school.

What led you to specialise in dispute resolution?

From very early in my training contract at Farrers I knew I wanted to do contentious work. I remember being sent down to court for the first time to deliver a box of evidence for a trial hearing. I walked into a hushed courtroom whilst our client’s leading barrister was cross-examining a witness. I was immediately hooked.

And how did you find your way into the world of art disputes?

I was lucky enough to have Adrian Parkhouse as a mentor. Until he retired a few months ago, he was a huge figure in the art disputes market. Over the years I continued to bug him to involve me in his art cases and after a while he relented.

Art law is quite a niche practice area. What sparked your interest in it?

As a kid I was dragged around exhibitions in London and the rest of Europe by my parents. Whilst many of those visits may have been under duress, they did instil in me a love of museums and galleries and the artworks and antiquities they contain. When the opportunity arose at Farrers to combine that passion with my day job, it was not an opportunity I was going to miss.

Can you share one of the most memorable or unusual matters you’ve worked on (within what you can say)?

The most interesting cases are those relating to the recovery of stolen artworks and cultural objects, but those are difficult cases to talk about publicly. I have also done some great cases recently about forgeries of 20th-century artworks. I love working with art experts and getting to understand the detective work involved in proving that an artwork is a fake or a forgery.

The art world is known for its complexities - do you think that makes disputes in this space more difficult to resolve, or just more interesting?

It can be a challenge to resolve art disputes as often the parties involved are so bound up emotionally with the object. A case may involve a succession dispute about an Old Master painting that warring siblings fondly remember hanging in the house they grew up in; or we may be helping the victim of a theft whose stolen work has popped up on the open market. More often than not, in these highly charged situations emotional impulse is a huge factor and commercial considerations can go out the window. That can make finding common ground and reaching a settlement more difficult, but I love that kind of challenge.

Outside of work, do you collect art?

I’m definitely not a collector but I have a couple of lovely things, including a small but beautiful pencil drawing by British Post-war painter, Keith Vaughan, some wonderful works by calligrapher, Ann Hechle, and a few paintings by my mum (who is a great painter).

Quick-fire round:

• Old Masters or cutting-edge contemporary? Modern Master, Gerhard Richter. I love everything he does.
• Books or podcasts? Books for the Underground, podcasts for jogging and doing the washing up.
• Tate Modern or the National Gallery? The National Gallery – it’s so close to my office. Whether it’s their stunning exhibitions or the new re-hang of their permanent collection, there is always a good reason to go back. I went to their recent Siena exhibition four times…

© Farrer & Co LLP, July 2025