Gary Nader, a Miami art dealer, has spent the last two years fighting in court over unpaid legal expenses. Now that this disagreement has escalated, he might lose both his building and his substantial art collection to foreclosure.
Robert A. Stok filed a lawsuit against AIM Recovery Services, a branch of the Miami-based legal firm Stok Kon + Braverman, in November 2022, on behalf of Nader, Gary Nader Corporation, and Nader+Museu I, LLLP. Nader owes $216,814.42 for legal services provided between 2018 and 2022, plus interest computed at a rate of 12.5 percent annually, according to the lawsuit. The complaint also included claims of contract breach and unjust enrichment.
Judge Pedro P. Echarte Jr. of the Circuit Court in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Miami Dade County ruled in favor of AIM Recovery Services in April 2023, awarding the group a total of $258,656.63. Nader’s attorney, David Winkler, declared that his client will be appealing the decision.
Nader is renowned for his collection of artwork from Latin America, which includes works by painters including Diego Rivera, Guillermo Kuitca, Rufino Tamayo, Carlos Cruz-Diez, Wifredo Lam, and Joaquín Torres-García. In his collection, he possesses over a hundred pieces by Fernando Botero. Gary Nader opened his Miami gallery in 1986 and the Gary Nader Art Center in 2006. He founded Nader+Museu I, LLLP, in 2014 with the goal of creating a museum and residential complex in Miami. To raise money for a new private museum, he set a goal in 2017 to sell artwork valued at $100 million.
In September 2018, Nader initially hired Stok Kon + Braverman to assist him in legal challenges over a shelved development project with Miami Dade College. Nader kept utilizing the company’s services up to the lawsuit’s filing in 2022.
Following the verdict in April, Stok Kon + Braverman attempted to recoup the excess of $250,000 that was due. Judge Echarte allowed AIM Recovery Services’ application on June 19 to execute on the asset “Gary Nader and Company LLC” and sell it to the public. In 2021, Nader disbanded Nader+Museu. The Gary Nader Art Center in Miami’s Wynwood Arts neighborhood shares the same address as “Gary Nader and Company LLC.” The public sale was set for July 22 at nine in the morning.
Stok estimated that Nader’s building was worth between $25 and $40 million, and that the collection of art within was worth over $500 million, including some of the best Latin American works of art worldwide.
Nader argues that Stok’s business is suing him in an effort to harm his reputation and coerce him into paying. He stated that before dismissing the company for inefficiency, he had spent more than half a million in fees. Nader said that even after being dismissed, Stok kept invoicing him and pursuing other legal matters.
The AIM complaint has demanded compensation by pursuing assets owned by Gary Nader’s wife, Jennifer Eileen Nader, as well as by freezing $535,000 in multiple Bank of America and Bank OZK bank accounts linked to Nader and his family members.
Nader pointed out that ARTnews had previously advertised with them and blasted them for covering the foreclosure auction. He proclaimed his accomplishment and ethics, saying he had a well-known reputation all across the world.
In order to stop the sale, Nader and Winkler gave the court clerk a receipt dated July 12th, which showed a bond deposit of $513,887.67. On the other hand, court records show that $432,128.90 is the total sum outstanding, including interest and legal expenses. Any money left over after paying Stok Kon + Braverman’s debt will go to Nader if the transaction goes through on July 22.
