{"id":2130,"date":"2018-11-12T08:38:29","date_gmt":"2018-11-12T13:38:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/jsel\/?p=2130"},"modified":"2023-07-25T11:44:01","modified_gmt":"2023-07-25T15:44:01","slug":"acclaimed-painter-sues-lawyer-for-fraud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/jsel\/2018\/11\/acclaimed-painter-sues-lawyer-for-fraud\/","title":{"rendered":"Acclaimed Painter Sues Lawyer for Fraud"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

On Wednesday, painter Robert Sundholm filed suit<\/a> against his personal attorney for tricking him into signing away the film rights to his life story. Sundholm\u2019s unique biography has been the subject of features for People Magazine<\/a>, CBS<\/a> and BBC<\/a>. The artist was abandoned by his parents as a child, never graduated from high school, learned to read when he was 32, and worked as a street hustler to get by. At the age of 60, while working as a janitor at North Bergen town hall in New Jersey, Sundholm began making art as a hobby and giving it away.<\/p>\n

Attorney Daniel Belardinelli discovered Sundholm\u2019s paintings when they were hung on the walls of North Bergen town hall by appreciators of Sundholm\u2019s work. The attorney signed Sundholm as a client and helped him successfully break into the New York art world, but also induced Sundholm to give him the rights to the artist\u2019s incredible story for just $10. Sundholm also signed a will stating that all of his paintings and personal possessions would go to Belardinelli upon the artist\u2019s death. In order to convince Sundholm to sign, Belardinelli allegedly promised to pay him royalties that were never actually stipulated in the contract.<\/p>\n

The complaint states that \u201cBelardinelli abused his confidential relationship as Sundholm\u2019s attorney to induce Sundholm to execute the [life story rights agreement].\u201d It also implicates another attorney, Marianne McGlone, who allegedly conspired with Belardinelli to carry out the scheme. According to the complaint, the attorneys\u2019 actions constitute negligence, fraud, and breach of contract.<\/p>\n

Alex Van Dyke is an Entertainment Highlight Contributor for the Harvard Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law and a current first year student at Harvard Law School (Class of 2021).<\/em><\/p>\n

Image:\u00a0Camimack<\/a>, Robert Sundholm<\/a>, CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Wednesday, painter Robert Sundholm filed suit against his personal attorney for tricking him into signing away the film rights to his life story. Sundholm\u2019s unique biography has been the subject of features for People Magazine, CBS and BBC. The artist was abandoned by his parents as a child, never graduated from high school, learned 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