Legally-Themed Racehorse Names: And They’re Off! (Part 1)
Interest in horse racing is running high these days. Over the weekend, Big Brown, the Kentucky Derby winner, won the Preakness by a comfortable margin. This gives him the chance to become only the 12th Triple Crown winner in history, when he runs in the Belmont Stakes on June 7.
Thanks to everyone who responded to our call for legally-themed racehorse names — like Affirmed and Citation, two past Triple Crown winners. The post received 400 comments before we closed the thread. We have reviewed your excellent submissions. Now it’s time for the first round of voting.
We’ll give you 20 contenders to start, just like the Kentucky Derby. Then we’ll hold a runoff between the top ten vote getters.
The poll appears below. For those of you who are interested, the fine print about how we came up with this slate appears after the jump.
Update: And an ATL shout-out to K&L Gates partner John Garda. We hear that he’s an owner of “Macho Again,” which finished second to Big Brown in the Preakness. Congratulations, Mr. Garda!
Details about how we settled on our twenty race horse names, after the jump.
Sorry it took us so long to put this post together (although its appearance on the Monday after the Preakness does make it timely). The process of coming up with 20 finalists was time-consuming.
Our original post received 400 comments before we closed the thread. We reviewed all 400 comments, plus additional names that were sent in via email, to pick out some favorites. We were looking mainly for legitimate and plausible horse names, but we also mixed in a few groan-inducing, “so bad they’re good” names.
Then we took those initial favorites and checked them for compliance with Rule 6F. This eliminated several contenders. E.g., GVR (no names consisting solely of initials); Schulte Roth and Stable, Penumbral Emanations, Clear and Convincing, Arbitrary and Capricious, Reversed and Remanded, Specific Performance (too long — no names over 18 characters, counting spaces); Hung Like A Horse (no names with “a vulgar or obscene meaning”); and Mrs. Palsgraf (no names of “‘famous’ people no longer living”; if Sally Hemings doesn’t fly with the powers-that-be, neither would Mrs. Palsgraf).
(In other words, nobody gets to ride Mrs. Palsgraf. The woman already got bonked by some heavy scales. Hasn’t she been through enough?)
Then we looked up the remaining names in the Jockey Club’s Online Names Book, to see if they were still available. It seems that many lawyers — e.g., John Garda of K&L Gates, owner of “Macho Again,” second-place finisher at the Preakness — are into horse racing. The following race horse names, nominated by ATL readers, were already taken:
— Attractivenuisance
— Billable Hours
— Blackberry
— Demurrer
— De Novo
— Force Majeure
— Hostile Witness
— Last Clear Chance
— Mandamus
— Nolo Contendere
— Oyez Oyez
— Per Curiam
— Poison Pill
— Race Judicata
— Runaway Verdict
— Speedy Trial
— Strict Liability
— Sua Sponte
— Sui Generis
Eliminating these names still left us with about 30 that we liked. We lopped off ten, making admittedly subjective decisions, to generate our slate of 20.
Interactive Registration: Online Names Book [The Jockey Club]
Rule 6F [The Jockey Club]
Earlier: Legally-Themed Racehorse Names? Your Nominations, Please
Lawsuit of the Day: Sixth Circuit Horses Around With Literary References
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Comments
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Great post by the way. I wish "Reversed and Remanded" weren't too long, because that really was my favorite.
It looks like this is going to be a three-way race between Cert Denied, Hung Like A Jury, and Learned Hoof.
My trifecta: Learned Hoof, Hung Like A Jury, Cert Denied.
Poison Pill's a good one.
Judge Halverson's a good one too.
"Judge Halverson" is barred by Rule 6.F.8, which prohibits naming horses after "notorious" people.
True, plus it would'nt be fair to the horse. It at least deserves some minimal amount of respect.
Last Clear Chance is great... and too bad Clear and Convincing was too long.
how about "ATL's new site design"
just put it down.
If habeas horsus got in, then a fortiori, a horseiori should've.
"Habeas corpus" is more widely recognized as a phrase than "a fortiori."
If I were a horse, my name would be "Still Billing."
Eh, "Hillary Clinton" should be up there. After all of these years with Bill, having someone ride her might be a good change of pace.
Million Dollar Pants. Best name ever.
Yeah, I had a hard time choosing between Cert Denied, Hung Like a Jury, and Learned Hoof - clearly the top three there.
what about "ex parte"
"Ex parte" is already taken - look it up in the name registry.
ok what about "federal register"
9:43 here again--what about "contra proferentum"
wouldn't "hung like a jury" be violative of the same rule that prohibits "hung like a horse"? (particularly in horse racing, where people's immediate thought would be horses)
Are you allowed to reuse a horse name that's already been used? Bascom's Folly: 249 A.2d 414.
You can reuse names if enough time has passed (with some exceptions, like Derby winners, whose names can never be reused).
The easiest way to check availability is to look them up in the online name registry:
http://www.registry.jockeyclub.com/registry.cfm?page=namesrch&search=&#
10:05, you are probably right. But there are just so many idiots on this site. How else would you satisfy them?
Has anyone considered "Been Fired."
These names are ALL freaking awesome.
some of those are clever; some are really bad puns (learned hoof? really?).
only a few sound like they could be the name of an actual horse. offer of proof and rush to judgment are two in that category.
How about Fleet Nasrullah from the contracts case Taylor v. Johnston?
Horse racing = animal abuse
I liked "Prima Nocta" the best.
They can take our lives, but they can never take our FREEEEEEDOM!!!!
Are you a horse naming expert, 10:35? Oh, you're not? Then shut the fuck up.
I was always a fan of Effecient Breach.
No way would the Jockey Club accept Hung like a Jury
Efficient Breach is excellent.
Learned Hoof is not.
Too bad Last Clear Chance and Runaway Verdict were taken.
The system gives an error message and nonetheless posts the post. Broken?
10:35, I agree. Hung like a jury is in the lead?? Seriously? This site must be read by a bunch of 13 year old boys.
Anyone who's ever seen even just one Derby should know 90% of these names are stupid for a horse. Just imagine what the announcement of the race would sound like and you should see what I mean. "Offer of Proof" and "Secured Creditor" are obviously the best names.
Testing, testing.... Did my comment go through?
Glue Factory Bound!
Future Pet Food.
Ms. Trial
Ms. Trial
I have worked with the racist Mr. Garda in the Texas office of what used to be Hughes and Luce. He plays his race card when he can and is a Mexican racist!