Blair settles, students yawn.

August 20, 2003 2:42 PM

Valedictorian settles suit against district If anyone is still interested in following the Blair Hornstine saga....she's settled with the school district. The district pays $45,000 to her lawyers, $15,000 to Blair.
posted by paddbear (36 comments total)

So that's how much dignity goes for these days?
posted by xmutex at 2:46 PM on August 20, 2003

well, all's well that ends well. she can use the 15k to enroll in mabel's school of beauty and cosmetology in beautiful downtown ortsburg, KY. admissions office is the third trailer on the left.
posted by quonsar at 2:49 PM on August 20, 2003

I hope some of that $15,000 goes towards therapy.

Coincidentally, I have just become a therapist.
posted by scody at 2:51 PM on August 20, 2003

"$60,000 - all but $15,000 to pay her lawyers"
That has to be a mistake. Assuming the case was taken on a contingency basis, which is pretty standard, the normal attorney fee for a settled case would be 30-33%. Expenses come out after the attorney fee, so in this case if the attorney got $20,000 and Blair only got $15,000, there were $25,000 in expenses? Not possible.
If the attorney fee really was $45,000, even at $200/hour that would mean they speant 225 billable hours on the case without even going to trial. Also not possible.

I think this was gratuitous lawyer bashing by the journalist and poor fact checking by the editor.
posted by Outlawyr at 2:52 PM on August 20, 2003

"That chapter of our lives is over. We're all moving on to college,"

Well, not all, as we already know.
posted by clevershark at 2:52 PM on August 20, 2003

with local budgets all over so paltry nowadays, it's a shame they had to lose so much to one jerk. do you reckon they'll cut back in the arts or athletics?
posted by mcsweetie at 2:56 PM on August 20, 2003

do you reckon they'll cut back in the arts or athletics?

You forget that public school funds are (often) very unequally distributed (and I'm sure the Hornstine family insisted on only the best^tm for their daughter). The school district Blair Hornstine went to probably could probably take that kind of financial hit without any trouble.
posted by kickingtheground at 3:08 PM on August 20, 2003

I think this was gratuitous lawyer bashing...

You make it sound like a bad thing ;-)
posted by i_cola at 3:22 PM on August 20, 2003

I guess her red convertible with the license plate "I WON" will have to be a used Mustang instead of a new Z4.
posted by ilsa at 3:37 PM on August 20, 2003

the money seems to be confirmed in other reports (the texts aren't all the same). this one has some extra details.
posted by andrew cooke at 4:04 PM on August 20, 2003

I hope that $15K goes a long way towards her continuing education at a community college. I doubt any college whose name constitutes a "brand o' education" will touch her after Harvard's rejection.

Yet another tempest in a teacup.
posted by FormlessOne at 4:40 PM on August 20, 2003

OK. Help a British person here. What exactly is a valedictorian? I would normally turn to Buffy for answers, but her graduation was interrupted by the Mayor turing into a giant snake, which I presume is not normal.
posted by gdav at 5:02 PM on August 20, 2003

If only there were some way we could piss on her grave. Or at least her foot.
posted by five fresh fish at 5:07 PM on August 20, 2003

valedictorian = smarted/best student in a graduating high school class, who gets designated to give a long bland poorly crafted speech to the entire audience. it's an honor, i guess..
posted by shadow45 at 5:09 PM on August 20, 2003

smarted? holy shit how did that get in there. SMARTEST.
s/smarted/smartest/g
posted by shadow45 at 5:10 PM on August 20, 2003

gdav: Theoreticaly, the person with the highest GPA, or the 'first in their class'
posted by delmoi at 5:10 PM on August 20, 2003

OK. Help a British person here. What exactly is a valedictorian?

It's the student -- usually the one ranked with the highest grades* -- who gives the valedictory address at graduation ceremonies.

her graduation was interrupted by the Mayor turing into a giant snake, which I presume is not normal.

You presume correctly. The mayor at my graduation turned into a feral cat, which is far more typical.

*Determined by GPA, or grade point average, which -- as I recall when I spent a year at university in Norwich -- you Brits don't have either. You've just got those O-levels and A-levels and O-Towns, whatever those are.
posted by scody at 5:10 PM on August 20, 2003

At our school, we just voted for our valedictorian. I think as long as they're graduating, whoever gets the most votes is it. My year it happened to be the person who got the best marks as well.

... I got nominated, you know.
posted by ODiV at 5:14 PM on August 20, 2003

You've just got those O-levels and A-levels

The first time I heard about O-levels was from the students of Scumbag College.
posted by thanotopsis at 5:23 PM on August 20, 2003

What exactly is a valedictorian?

A valedictorian is a person who delivers a valedictory address. From the Latin:
vale: farewell
dicere: to say, to speak
So a valedictory address, or valediction, is a farewell speech. Such speeches are traditionally given at graduation ceremonies, usually by a member of the graduating class. Often, the graduating student who has the honor of delivering the valediction is selected according to academic standing. The most academically distinguished student (the one with the highest grades) therefore becomes the valedictorian.

Technically, Blair Hornstine was not a valedictorian, since she failed to show up to deliver a speech. You could say she was "selected to be valedictorian" or "offered the chance to be valedictorian; a chance that she refused", but no speech, no valedictorian. Unless you just want to piss on the English language. In which case, go ahead, I suppose. The English language is used to it.
posted by mr_roboto at 5:33 PM on August 20, 2003

"$60,000 - all but $15,000 to pay her lawyers"
That has to be a mistake.

First of all, the original Weekly Standard piece explained that they hired a number of lawyers -- including one known for clients who belong to that certain organization that doesn't exist (nudge, nudge):

The case immediately made headlines, and not just because of the eye-popping price tag. There was also her choice of lawyer. Instead of hiring an expert in education law, Louis Hornstine hired Edwin Jacobs Jr.

JACOBS is something of a legend in Jersey legal circles. He first rose to prominence in the mid-'80s defending Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo, a legendary Philly mob boss. With a practice in Atlantic City, Jacobs has represented a colorful array of organized crime figures along the Broad Street-Boardwalk corridor. How good is he? In 1998, he represented Philly drug kingpin Louis Turra, accused of plotting the assassination of underboss Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino....

[snip]

Meantime, two other lawyers, Warren Faulk and Steven Kudatzky, played offense with Harvard to make sure Blair's acceptance there wasn't jeopardized.

That's three lawyers, including one who knows people. So don't assume those figures are wrong.
posted by pmurray63 at 5:54 PM on August 20, 2003

Funny that no one pointed out that the school district already paid out extra for the tutors that this twit already had in her bid to manipulate the system and boost her GPA. [must work on my run-on sentences]
posted by DBAPaul at 6:26 PM on August 20, 2003

Thanks for posting this, paddbear. I was wondering if there were any developments but was too lazy to look it up myself.

From andrew cooke's linked Google Search, Blair is evidently claiming she wouldn't have deigned to give Harvard the honour of her attendance anyway (you might have to scroll down a bit)...
posted by orange swan at 7:04 PM on August 20, 2003

Well in the end, the most fit punishment for Blair has already been dealt to her: she is Blair. Forever and irrevocably. That's a fate worse than anything society could mete out.
posted by five fresh fish at 7:44 PM on August 20, 2003

Why is this sordid little saga so fascinating?

And it is fascinating. There's something about this story that drops a bucket into the dark, fetid well of human nature and comes up brimming with gooey, rotting stuff that you just cannot resist sticking your finger in, and going, "Ewwww!"

Is it Blair's Rasputin the Mad Monk of a father? The judge who hires mob lawyers to sue the school district? OMGWTF.

Or is it Blair herself? Does anyone else think of Thackeray's Becky Sharp, when reading about Blair? Or the brilliant, amoral, charismatic Mrs. Coulter of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials novels?

Really, the whole story reads like a novel, filled with characters who are larger than life. Any moment now we'll find out that Blair and Ted Kaczynski are actually brother and sister. There will be a reunion, filled with hugs and tears. Then they'll go and shoot up a bank or something.
posted by Slithy_Tove at 8:03 PM on August 20, 2003

I know what I would do if I was on the admissions board of any college she applied to now: "We're sorry, but your application has been rejected. We has reason to believe you may be a legal liability risk."

If I see her serving fries somewhere, someday, my life will be complete.
posted by Mitrovarr at 8:32 PM on August 20, 2003

Why is this sordid little saga so fascinating?

It's Classical Tragedy, man. Blair's hubris offended the gods, and she was struck down. Tell me you didn't experience a moment of catharsis when you found out that Harvard was rescinding her acceptance...
posted by mr_roboto at 8:38 PM on August 20, 2003

"God dammit, this country is going straight to hell."
posted by tgrundke at 8:52 PM on August 20, 2003

Why is this sordid little saga so fascinating?


Schadenfreude
posted by Dagobert at 11:02 PM on August 20, 2003

I must have missed something, but what is it that this woman has done that has lead to people regarding her on the same level as Saddam ?
posted by daveg at 2:19 AM on August 21, 2003

Blair is evidently claiming she wouldn't have deigned to give Harvard the honour of her attendance anyway.

Ahh, Aesop, still relevant after all these years.
posted by Ljubljana at 4:06 AM on August 21, 2003

I don't see how being fascinated by this story and making classical allusions when discussing it is "people regarding her on the same level as Saddam."
posted by JanetLand at 4:54 AM on August 21, 2003

Although, I am suddenly intrigued by the thought of Saddam enrolling in mabel's school of beauty and cosmetology in beautiful downtown ortsburg, KY.
posted by JanetLand at 4:55 AM on August 21, 2003

It was more the "If only there were some way we could piss on her grave", "she is Blair. Forever and irrevocably. That's a fate worse than anything society could mete out." and "Any moment now we'll find out that Blair and Ted Kaczynski are actually brother and sister."

(OK, maybe Saddam was over-egging it slightly)
posted by daveg at 5:03 AM on August 21, 2003

That has to be a mistake. Assuming the case was taken on a contingency basis, which is pretty standard, the normal attorney fee for a settled case would be 30-33%.

Actually, lawyers taking contingency fees are fairly rare at the "really good" lawyer level. Divorce, and 100 million dollar PI cases are about the only exceptions.

TV lawyers work on contingency. Lawyers who specialize in suing the SSA, or auto personal injury cases, low-lying medical malpractice attorneys...pretty much those people that advertise on TV will work for contingencies. Partners in real law firms generally do not. The cost of doing business is too high, plus you get cases like this one where it's settled for pennies on the original asking filing.
posted by dejah420 at 7:23 AM on August 21, 2003

I didn't experience catharsis so much as relief that Harvard hadn't lost their collective institutional mind. That young woman is bad juju. The best thing that could happen is if she got out on her own, made her own decisions and mistakes for a while, and in other words, got an education as opposed to a high-octane degree. There are already enough of the latter floating around making the rest of us miserable.
posted by alumshubby at 8:52 AM on August 21, 2003