Recently we've been thinking about law-related names for racehorses. The subject came up when we were reading about how Big Brown, the 2008 Kentucky Derby winner, might win the Triple Crown and join the company of Affirmed (pictured) -- the last winner of the Triple Crown, in 1978.

Hearing about a racing horse named "Affirmed" led us to start thinking about other legally-themed horse names. A few ideas:

-- "Reversed" (or "Reversed and Remanded")

We liked how it played off of "Affirmed." But it's "probably not the kind of message you want to send to the oddsmakers," said a friend.

-- "Cert Denied"

Kinda badass, no? We'll put it down as a possibility.

-- "GVR"

Suggested by another friend, to continue on the Supreme Court disposition theme. "GVR" stands for "Grant, Vacate, and Remand" -- which can, depending on the circumstances, be something of a benchslap. But maybe it's too technical, appreciated only by SCOTUS junkies?

-- "Desuetude"

Nominated by a third friend (in the midst of studying for law-school finals). It's erudite, but a bit short on sex appeal.

Have an idea for a law-related racehorse name, à la Affirmed? If so, feel free to leave it in the comments. If we get enough nominations, maybe we'll hold a contest. Also, feel free to weigh in on the names previously mentioned, if you strong feelings about any of them.

Update: Please make sure that your nomination complies with these naming rules (posted by a helpful commenter).

More about racehorses and the law, after the jump.

* Some thoughts on the recently deceased Mildred Loving, of Loving v. Virginia fame, and the federal marriage penalty in the income tax code. (Or: why Ted Frank is staying single.) [Point of Law]

* Another reverend in the news: Rev. Al Sharpton and entities connected to him owe nearly $1.5 million in taxes, interest, and penalties. [TaxProf Blog]

* Obama dons an American flag pin as he campaigns in West Virginia. [McClatchy]

* Sex with your entree? Uh, then what's for dessert? (Or: Pennsylvania appellate court holds that sexual activity is not an "accessory use" to a restaurant.) [Legal Intelligencer] [FN1]

* We mentioned it briefly on Friday, but here's more on Judge Robert Bork's settlement of his slip-and-fall lawsuit against the Yale Club. [New York Personal Injury Law Blog]

* Blawg Review #159: This week is whistleblower week, at Blawg Review and on Capitol Hill: "independent whistleblower coalitions, such as the International Association of Whistleblowers (IAW), the Make it Safe Campaign, and many other independent whistleblower coalitions, will hold a series of simultaneous but separate events in Washington, D.C.. These events are designed to lobby Congress and alert the public to the need to support whistleblower protection." [Whistleblower Law Blog via Blawg Review via Blawg Review]

[FN1] Note the double (or triple?) entendre in the Legal Intelligencer's headline: "Having Sex With Your Entree? Not So Fast, Says Court."

Here is a Tale of Two Judges: the Honorable Alex Kozinski, the relatively new chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; and the Honorable Elizabeth Halverson, district judge in Clark County, Nevada.

Both are judges in the western United States. Both are colorful figures and well-known judicial mavericks. And both have been in the news lately. Chief Judge Kozinski graces the cover of California Lawyer magazine, which describes him -- and rightfully so -- as "brilliant, charming, and provocative." Meanwhile, Judge Halverson has been all over the national media in the past few days, thanks to this less-than-favorable AP report (picked up by many news outlets).

In light of these similarities, we decided to conduct a head-to-head comparison of the two jurists. Check it out, below the fold.

Bob Hezzelwood is serious about his beach time -- and serious about his right to spend that beach time in a speedo.

Last year, a sheriff's deputy gave Hezzelwood a ticket for his speedo-wearing ways:

[A] Lee County Sheriff’s deputy stopped by and wrote him a warning for trespassing.

The reason?

“Exposed scrotum,” the notice read. “Never return to Bonita Beach Main Access.”

But it turns out that, belied by his self-proclaimed “super-lazy” lifestyle, Beach Bob (more properly known as Robert Hezzelwood, 61, retired court reporter and Bonita Springs resident of 16 years) is a heckuva fighter.

The Naples Daily News has an extensive report on Hezzelwood's $4,000 legal fight to have the warning dismissed. Now Hezzelwood plans to file a lawsuit against the Lee County Sheriff's Office for violating his civil rights. "I’m a civilian out here who’s been picked on by a little bully deputy and that’s wrong. It’s just wrong," said Hezzelwood.

If you're wearing a speedo and don't have a super-hot bod, that's wrong. It's just wrong.

Beach Bob’s brouhaha: Swimsuit behind lawsuit [Naples Daily News]

Today is the first day of many law firms' summer associate programs. To summer associates who are starting work today: WELCOME!

Law school is great and all, and we're sure you had a fabulous experience last summer interning for the ACLU. But you haven't truly arrived in the legal profession until your first day of work as a summer associate. To those of you starting as summers today, congratulations! You are now Big Boys and Big Girls of Biglaw.

Several readers have asked us to give advice or tips to incoming summer associates. To be totally honest, we'd rather not. We seek to encourage summer associate scandals, like the many that we covered last summer -- e.g., the Bruised Booze Cruiser (at Kirkland & Ellis); Skadden Cristal Boy; Katten Kreep; O'Melveny Mystery Man -- not to nip them in the bud.

But because we're good people, we've collected below links to summer associate advice columns written by others. We also hereby declare this post to be an open thread, devoted to freewheeling discussion of do's and don'ts for summer associates. Summer associates, post your questions; experienced attorneys, post your answers.

Later this week, we'll offer advice for lawyers at firms who are hosting summers, concerning how to handle your young charges. In the weeks ahead, we'll be doing a slew of summer program-related surveys (e.g., a survey of summer lunch budgets at different firms). If you have suggestions for SA-related coverage, or salacious tales to tell, please email us (and include the words "summer associate" somewhere in the subject line).

Thanks in advance for all your tips. We're looking forward to a great summer, full of food, folks, and fun (plus a few good scandals). Please don't disappoint us!

First Day Advice for New Summers [ATL Community]
Tips for Summer Associates [Jeremy Blachman]
The Ten Commandments for Summer Associates [4LawSchool.com]

Earlier: The Incredible Shrinking Summer Program?

Divorce attorney turned hit man employer, Manuel Martinez, is ATL's Lawyer of the Day. Martha Neil reports in the ABA Journal that the New York ex-lawyer was sentenced to 25 years to life for hiring a hit man to kill his client's husband 18 years ago, "during a bitter divorce trial." That's really bitter.

From the New York Daily News:

Martinez reportedly collected $100,000 for hiring the hit man who fired three bullets into George Kogan on Oct. 23, 1990, as the victim lingered outside his girlfriend's E. 69th St. apartment....

Martinez was "a lawyer who became a murderer," Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann told the Supreme Court jury in Manhattan.

The jury deliberated three days before convicting the lawyer of second-degree murder and soliciting. Prosecutors said Martinez admitted his involvement in Kogan's death to his ex-wife and an ex-con pal.

The lawyer was actually indicted a decade ago while serving a prison term in Mexico on unrelated charges.

From a Mexican prison for drug charges to a U.S. prison for murder charges. We wonder if this guy snickered his way through the lawyer's oath.

Martinez's client, Barbara Kogan, collected $4 million in insurance money after her husband's murder, but she's hanging out uncharged in Puerto Rico. "To say that this is an unusual case may be the understatement of my career," the ruling judge, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Michael Obus, said.

N.Y. Lawyer Gets 25 Years to Life in Murder of Client’s Husband [ABA Journal]
He's guilty in '90 slay of millionaire [New York Daily News]

We received 1,669 responses to last week's ATL / Lateral Link survey on children and careers.

Quite a few readers are pessimistic about the impact having a child would have on their careers. One comment summed it up:

Having a child would not, in itself, hurt anyone's career. Raising one almost certainly would, as would taking up stamp collecting or any other non-career-advancing hobby.

But just having a child, provided it was promptly deposited at a nearby orphanage (between conference calls), should not be too problematic.

Ouch. Another comment was a bit more hopeful:

I recently returned full-time from 5 months of maternity leave at my Vault 5 firm. At the end of the day, I don't think that the length of a single maternity leave is that big of a deal. No one is going to remember or care how long you were gone, particularly if you are junior and still more or less interchangeable with your peers. That said, my experience was that, with all of my matters having closed about 3 months before my due date, it was really tough to find work during that time because I looked like I was going to pop at any moment. So the time I was out of the game and not able to build skills was longer than the maternity leave alone. And reminding everyone of who I am and the good work that I do has had to happen a bit more since I returned, but none of this is career-ending. It just takes patience, but that kind of perseverance comes quite naturally to me now that I am a mother.

I worked until a week before the baby was born. Though 16-hour days or longer are possible for most of a normal pregnancy, they are not a good idea in the late stages (the last 6 weeks or so). Even a normal pregnancy is a lot of work, don't get me wrong, but, honestly, the talk [in the comments] about using surrogates because you don't want a pregnancy to slow you down is just silly, and clearly the idea of a childless person who has not seriously contemplated what surrogacy involves. A few months of being pregnant, and then taking maternity leave, in my experience, just isn't going to kill your career.

Read more -- the rest of this very thoughtful email, plus the overall survey results -- after the jump.

Last week, we brought you a dramatic farewell e-mail from Shinyung Oh, who was fired from Paul Hastings after a miscarriage.

This week, we have another farewell e-mail, but this one is light fare for amusement value only. Our tipster says:

A friend at Reed Smith sent me this. It's AWESOME. Author is staff/office clerk. And yes, he really did start it with "My fellow Americans."

The Reed Smith staff member is leaving for grad school and e-mailed the entire San Fran office to say goodbye, and share his plans for the future. There are a few JFK quotes. The full e-mail is available after the fold, but here's a taste:

As you all know, this is my last day with the firm. It has been a very interesting two and a half years and I have gained a lot of insight on the workings of a big corporate law firm. I have found newfound respect and admiration for all the work you do every day in a high-stress, fast-pace environment. However, I feel that this is the right time to move onto a new opportunity and challenge...

In our nation’s current state of affairs, there are many things that need to be changed, such as our diplomacy and image abroad, and I plan on being part of the solution....

I know that my future words and actions will not only represent the U.S., or American University, but also Reed-Smith LLP...

The interests of the American people will become my top priority and someday, I will be looking out for all of you...

Pompous, much?

* Voter ID movement spreads to Missouri, which is considering a proof-of-citizenship requirement for voters. [New York Times]

* Obama ties Clinton in the superdelegate count. [CNN]

* Foxy Brown shows you how not to use your Blackberry. [New York Times]

* Counsel 'n things in the Linens ‘N Things bankruptcy case. [WSJ Law Blog]

* "Lawyers' writing skills still bad." [National Law Journal]

* We should have included him in our Lawyer of the Day poll: While in Tallahassee filing papers to run for Broward County public defender, criminal defense attorney Gary Ostrow got arrested for cocaine possession. [JAABlog]

* Loro Piana's new tactic for protecting their intellectual property rights. [Fashionista]

* Former judge (and SCOTUS nominee) Robert Bork settles slip-and-fall suit against Yale Club. [WSJ Law Blog]

* Professor Laura Appleman supplements the list (previously noted here) of "Classes My Top-Tier Law School Should Have Offered as Warnings About the Profession." [The Faculty Lounge]

* A popular (but unsurprising) beneficiary of unclaimed class-action funds: law schools. [Point of Law]

* Before she was famous. [Althouse]

* Not really law-related, but interesting: top colleges are admitting lots of students from wait lists this year. [New York Times]