Andra Matei

Andra is an art law lawyer practicing in Paris. Her core expertise relates to creating unique legal strategies and the mobilization of teams that include both legal and art experts to best protect artists and the creation process. Prior to founding Avant-Garde Lawyers, she worked at the European Court of Human Rights where she assessed the ways in which national judicial authorities upheld the rights of applicants in hundreds of cases. Alongside legal practice, Andra lectures in human rights strategic litigation, artistic freedom, and the rights of artists. She regularly teaches Art on Trial, a course for case lawyers at the Strasbourg Court and is the founder of Speak Truth to Power Project, a platform that uses role-play to challenge legal professionals in international courts to reflect on their work from the plaintiff’s perspective. Andra holds a Master’s degree in Human Rights from the Global Campus of Human Rights in Venice and a postgraduate diploma from the International Faculty of Comparative Law in Strasbourg. In 2011 she was awarded the Eiffel Scholarship of Excellence from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in 2021 she received the Pro Bono Prize of the Paris Bar and the Quebec Bar.