‘Elmo’s Song’ Case Gives Kirkland Associate Chance to Shine

By Perry Cooper, Bloomberg BNA

Kirkland & Ellis LLP faced a conundrum in a pro bono case: how to efficiently distribute copyright royalty payments from composer Tony Geiss’s estate to 10 of New York’s largest charities over the next 70 years.

Geiss is best known for writing “Elmo’s Song” and other music for “Sesame Street,” and the screenplays for the 1980s animated films “An American Tale” and “The Land Before Time.”

The team at Kirkland was stumped about how to deal with the administrative and other burdens that would come with getting the money to the large, diverse group — ...