Publisher's Notebook

“Dear VA Lawyers,” the e-mail message started.

Uh-oh. We’ve gotten junk mail addressed to “Ms. Virginia Lawyers Weekly” before. Once, Virginia nearly won the publisher’s clearinghouse sweepstakes.

“2009 has generated a lot of uncertainty for many people but there is one this of which I am sure – I am grateful to have you as a client!” it continued.

Wait a minute, I thought. I haven’t hired counsel. I checked the “to” line. Yep, that was me. I checked the sender’s name. Who? I don’t know Elizabeth Ziemba, whose office is in Brookline, Mass.

Elizabeth’s message continued, “One thing that does remain constant throughout the years is the appreciation I have for the clients with whom I work. I am inspired by your dedication and hard work. Getting to know you and meeting your immigration goals is the best part of my job.”

Hmm. I definitely didn’t hire an immigration lawyer this past year.

Sending a thank-you marketing e-mail was a really good idea, Elizabeth.

Here’s an even better idea: Check over the list before you send out the message. And, oh, don’t use your own e-mail address as the return address. That’s the fastest way to get blacklisted in the e-mail world and that’s a bad thing.

Elizabeth concluded her message to ‘VA Lawyers” with, “May the New Year bring health, happiness and success to you, your family and friends.”

That’s a really good thought, too. Back at you, Elizabeth.

Elizabeth Wurtzel, the author of “Prozac Nation” and “Bitch: In Praise of Difficult Women,” has a column in this morning’s Wall Street Journal on “Tough Times for Big Law.”

Wurtzel, who graduated from Yale Law School last year and has been taking the New York bar, writes about hiring at some of New York City’s biggest firms. Some of the big-dog firms have been delaying the start dates of new hires (sounds familiar) and paying them while waiting for that start (ditto).

Some of the bright shiny new law grads have been offered $80,000 to cool their jets until they start briefcase-toting in earnest. These individuals have turned that offer down. The question Wurtzel asks is this: What are they thinking?

The College of Knowledge is looking for a new mascot, as I reported earlier this week.

But Judge Lou Campbell from Botetourt County kicked me a note, reminding me that a few years ago, Prof. George Grayson of the William & Mary government department issued a modest proposal that would have resolved the controversy of the day: What to do with the two feathers on the W&M “Tribe” logo.

A quick recap: The NCAA was leaning on any member school with a logo or nickname that was deemed offensive to Native Americans. Years ago, the W&M teams were known as “the Indians.” The name was chosen to honor the early link between the college and the nearby tribes. The Brafferton Building, one of the original structures in the W&M front campus, was built as an Indian school in 1723. Sometime later, the school adopted “The Tribe” as its team name.

The University of North Dakota and Florida State University successfully cited history and local tribe support to the NCAA to keep their names, the “Fighting Sioux” and the “Seminoles,” respectively.

Down in Williamsburg, W&M tucked it tail feathers between its legs, thanks to then-President Gene Nichol, and plucked the green and gold feathers from the logo. W&M adopted a logo that looks a lot like the one you’ll see on garbage trucks owned by a local waste management company, but that’s another story.

Back to Grayson: One of the five proposed mascots up for consideration is a wren. In his op-ed piece, as a way to resolve the feather controversy, Grayson proposed that the school change its team name to the William and Mary Wrens.

The wren was considered “the king of birds” in medieval Europe, Grayson wrote. He added, “These bold and resourceful creatures with their perky tail-feathers are avid insectivores. This would enable W&M to devour the mushy Spiders of the University of Richmond.” Hear, hear.

The historic Wren Building? Grayson said that it “logically would become the new nesting place for the Athletic Department” once the Wrens ruled the roost on campus.

Here’s guessing we can count on the good professor for at least one vote for the wren as mascot.

The College of William and Mary has been in the hunt for a new mascot since February.

This morning the school announced the five finalists for mascot, the creature that bounces around the sports field, urging the team to victory and alternately delighting and scaring small children.

W&M alums will rest easy in knowing that the five finalists are nowhere near as dumb as the finalists for Richmond’s new baseball team, “The Flying Squirrels.” In fact, the W&M choices all are pretty good, except for the “Pug.” More on him later. The five, with drawings available for viewing at the W&M Web site, are:

* The Griffin. According to the Daily Press, a mythical critter with the head of an eagle and and the body of a lion. Symbolizes boldness and courage, always good.

* The King and the Queen. Ol’ Bill and Mary theirselves. A pair of mascots, as it were. Will work so long as the king doesn’t look like that bozo in the Burger King commercials.

* The Phoenix. Rising from the ashes. The school has used this indomitable bird as a symbol on several occasions during its long history of fits and starts. Never dies.

* The Pug. Okay, I don’t get this one. William and Mary apparently owned pugs, but it’s ugly. Will definitely frighten children.

* The Wren. A play on the name of Sir Christopher Wren, the English architect who designed the iconic Wren Building, “the oldest academic building in continuous use in America.” You have to know that fact, and agree to trot it out when appropriate, in order to graduate. Plus, wrens apparently nest all over campus.

The school is taking a survey, available through this link, until Jan. 7. Personally, I like the phoenix or maybe the king and queen (with the Burger King caveat), although the griffin and even the wren would work. Any thoughts?

Here’s to one of the good guys: Ed Weiner.

Weiner was honored by the Fairfax Bar Association luncheon today with the FBA’s James Keith Public Service Award. Among the reasons: As Judge Stan Klein said in presenting the award, “Ed is a tireless fundraiser for the Fairfax Law Foundation.”

Each year, Ed’s law firm, Weiner, Rohrstaff & Spivey, holds the annual Law Day Weiner Roast around Law Day and the Jazz 4 Justice program, a joint effort between the foundation and the music school at George Mason. Klein noted that these programs have raised more than $100,000 for the foundation and more than $25,000 for music scholarships at GMU.

Weiner has been active in numerous other charitable efforts, which help, as the judge noted, “make Fairfax an even better place to live.”

Klein concluded by noting that you can find Weiner at the Union Mill Shopping Center every Saturday this December, “ringing the bell for the Salvation Army.”

Hats off.