Lawyers Secure Song Rights to Aid Post-Sandy Recovery

For help bringing people back to Rockaway Beach post-Sandy, the Queens Economic Development Corporation turned to a group of lawyers—and a punk rock song. Last month, three associates at Katten Muchin Rosenman assisted the agency in securing licensing rights to the song "Rockaway Beach" by the Ramones for a radio ad campaign. The song is now being used to promote the area as a destination for New Yorkers this summer. Though area beaches and businesses were devastated last fall by Hurricane Sandy, the ads tout how quickly the community rebuilt itself in time for summer.

Katten associates Jennifer Carmen, Jessica Garrett and David Sherman spent about 15 hours on the matter. They were referred to the Queens agency through Volunteers of Legal Service, where the firm gets much of its pro bono work. "Like a lot of New Yorkers, I wanted to find a way to help out after Sandy," said Carmen, who handles intellectual property matters. "Not only was it fun, it was also a unique opportunity to use my professional skills to be able to help."