Legal News

Dude, Where?s My Bra? In Bankruptcy Court!

By Amir Efrati

Soccer player Brandi Chastain’s “The Bra” (pictured) is there. So is Tony Hawk’s childhood skateboard. Sitting nearby: Race-car driver Richard Petty’s trademark sunglasses, a Tour de France yellow jersey worn by cyclist Lance Armstrong, and a gold medal won by sprinter Jesse Owens.

Thanks to a U.S. bankruptcy court proceeding in Manhattan, these items and around 500 other sports memorabilia are locked up in a New Jersey storage facility. Here’s today’s WSJ story.

All of the items had been loaned to the Sports Museum of America in New York, a for-profit organization that recently declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy after opening to great fanfare in May. To satisfy creditors, all of the museum’s assets were seized, and if they aren’t claimed promptly, they may face the auction block.

That doesn’t sit well with many of the athletes and organizations that lent the items with the understanding they’d eventually be returned. Fumed Tony Hawk on Twitter: “The court wants $1,500 to give me my stuff back.”

Roy Babitt, the court-appointed trustee who is overseeing the return of the items, stated in a court document that before bankruptcy proceedings began, some memorabilia had been sent back to the wrong owners. To make sure no more mistakes are made, Mr. Babitt said two to five hours of attorney work are required per item to confirm proper ownership. He said these legal costs should be covered by the owners, not the museum’s creditors.

Only about a third of the items in the museum were snatched up and taken to the storage facility. The major halls of fame saw the museum disaster coming: The Pro Football Hall of Fame, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the World Golf Hall of Fame all pulled their artifacts in time.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on April 23, 2009 (boomark / email).