(1956-2023) – Obituary

David J. Rowland was a co-founder and managing partner of Rowland & Petroff. Mr. Rowland specialized in international legal transactions including art recovery, German property claims, real estate, business transactions, wills, trusts and estates, litigation, and international law.

Mr. Rowland represented claimants in several high profile art restitution cases, including the recovery of the “Watzmann” by Caspar David Friedrich and the restitution of the “Berlin Street Scene” by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. In addition, Mr. Rowland worked in the area of German property restitution since 1990.

Mr. Rowland frequently lectured and contributed articles in the areas of German property claims and art restitution. He was fluent in German and French.

Education

Trinity College, B.A. 1978. New York Law School, J.D. 1983. Diploma in Advanced International Legal Studies, University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, 1987.

Admitted

New York State, 1984. U.S. District Court, Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, 1984.

Memberships

American Bar Association, The Association of the Bar of the City of New York, the New York State Bar Association, and the New York County Bar Association.

Publications

“Nazi Looted Art Commissions” Kunst und Recht, Vol. 3/4, 2013;
“Nazi-Era Art Claims in the United States: 10 Years After the Washington Conference” Art & Cultural Heritage Law Newsletter Spring 2009, Vol. I, Issue 5, pp. 30;
“Have U.S. Museums Lived up to the Promise of the Washington Conference? The Case for the Mandatory Referral of Nazi-Era Art Claims to a Neutral Art Commission” in Verantwortung wahrnehmen-Taking Responsibility, Koordinierungsstelle für Kulturgutverluste in Berlin, 2008, pp.157;
“Reclaiming Property Along the Former Berlin Wall,” New York Law Journal, Vol. 216-No. 65, 1996;
“Deadlines Affecting Property Claims in East Germany,” New York Law Journal, Vol 208 No. 121, 1992;
“Compensation for Jewish Victims of the Nazi Regime,” New York Law Journal, Vol. 204-No. 104, 1992;
“Deadline Looms for Filing East German Compensation Claims,” New York Law Journal, Vol. 204-No. 65, 1990.
Co-author: with Dr. Eberhard Röhm, “Ausgleichsansprunch des Handelsvertretreters im U.S. – amerikanischen Recht,” Bundesnachrichten für Aussenhandel, No. 64, 1983.

Contact:

David J. Rowland

Email: david.rowland@rowlandlaw.com

*) Emails will be forwarded for review and necessary reply.

(212) 685-5509