A lawyer writes: When can an auctioneer be held liable legally?
I was consulted by an art dealer who bought a painting at auction which turned out to belong to someone other than the vendor. The painting went back to the true owner, the consignor to the auction was not worth suing, but did we have a case against the auctioneer?
As agent to the vendor, an auctioneer has many duties and responsibilities, but is not liable to t…