A Manatt team led by Gary Gilbert, co-chair of the firm's Entertainment & Media Practice, was recently selected to legally represent 31 American Idol semi-finalists. Gilbert, who counts several alums as current clients, spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about the process of campaigning for selection. This marks Gilbert's fourth time representing the show's finalists.
As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, the decision comes from the contestants themselves, making the proposal process much like an audition. When asked how many firms competed and what sort of legal matters were discussed, Gilbert replied:
"Three law firms are chosen to make presentations to the semi-finalists," said Gilbert. "We each have about a half-an-hour and right after the presentation, they have the kids vote. An hour after that, you get a phone call from 19 Entertainment that either says, 'Sorry' or 'Congratulations!'"
Gilbert continued, "There are eight contracts for various areas—obviously the recording agreement, but there's also the publishing agreement and so forth—that each person has to sign, so you can imagine the size of the task over a relatively short period of time. We got the gig on Monday, we had a meeting with all of them on Tuesday night, we negotiated on Wednesday and Thursday and they signed everything Friday night."