Comments on: Blair settles, students yawn.

Blair settles, students yawn.

paddbear — Wed, 20 Aug 2003 14:42:29 -0800

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.

By: xmutex

xmutex — Wed, 20 Aug 2003 14:46:27 -0800

So that's how much dignity goes for these days?

By: quonsar

quonsar — Wed, 20 Aug 2003 14:49:48 -0800

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.

By: scody

scody — Wed, 20 Aug 2003 14:51:11 -0800

I hope some of that $15,000 goes towards therapy. Coincidentally, I have just become a therapist.

By: Outlawyr

Outlawyr — Wed, 20 Aug 2003 14:52:30 -0800

"$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.

By: clevershark

clevershark — Wed, 20 Aug 2003 14:52:33 -0800

"That chapter of our lives is over. We're all moving on to college," Well, not all, as we already know.

By: mcsweetie

mcsweetie — Wed, 20 Aug 2003 14:56:17 -0800

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?

By: kickingtheground

kickingtheground — Wed, 20 Aug 2003 15:08:50 -0800

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.

By: i_cola

i_cola — Wed, 20 Aug 2003 15:22:20 -0800

I think this was gratuitous lawyer bashing... You make it sound like a bad thing ;-)

By: ilsa

ilsa — Wed, 20 Aug 2003 15:37:19 -0800

I guess her red convertible with the license plate "I WON" will have to be a used Mustang instead of a new Z4.

By: andrew cooke

andrew cooke — Wed, 20 Aug 2003 16:04:42 -0800

the money seems to be confirmed in other reports (the texts aren't all the same). this one has some extra details.

By: FormlessOne

FormlessOne — Wed, 20 Aug 2003 16:40:19 -0800

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.

By: gdav

gdav — Wed, 20 Aug 2003 17:02:49 -0800

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.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Wed, 20 Aug 2003 17:07:56 -0800

If only there were some way we could piss on her grave. Or at least her foot.

By: shadow45

shadow45 — Wed, 20 Aug 2003 17:09:14 -0800

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..

By: shadow45

shadow45 — Wed, 20 Aug 2003 17:10:18 -0800

smarted? holy shit how did that get in there. SMARTEST. s/smarted/smartest/g

By: delmoi

delmoi — Wed, 20 Aug 2003 17:10:32 -0800

gdav: Theoreticaly, the person with the highest GPA, or the 'first in their class'

By: scody

scody — Wed, 20 Aug 2003 17:10:47 -0800

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.

By: ODiV

ODiV — Wed, 20 Aug 2003 17:14:19 -0800

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.

By: thanotopsis

thanotopsis — Wed, 20 Aug 2003 17:23:06 -0800

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.

By: mr_roboto

mr_roboto — Wed, 20 Aug 2003 17:33:15 -0800

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.

By: pmurray63

pmurray63 — Wed, 20 Aug 2003 17:54:10 -0800

"$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.

By: DBAPaul

DBAPaul — Wed, 20 Aug 2003 18:26:19 -0800

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]

By: orange swan

orange swan — Wed, 20 Aug 2003 19:04:42 -0800

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)...

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Wed, 20 Aug 2003 19:44:30 -0800

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.

By: Slithy_Tove

Slithy_Tove — Wed, 20 Aug 2003 20:03:49 -0800

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.

By: Mitrovarr

Mitrovarr — Wed, 20 Aug 2003 20:32:27 -0800

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.

By: mr_roboto

mr_roboto — Wed, 20 Aug 2003 20:38:15 -0800

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...

By: tgrundke

tgrundke — Wed, 20 Aug 2003 20:52:10 -0800

"God dammit, this country is going straight to hell."

By: Dagobert

Dagobert — Wed, 20 Aug 2003 23:02:06 -0800

Why is this sordid little saga so fascinating? Schadenfreude

By: daveg

daveg — Thu, 21 Aug 2003 02:19:30 -0800

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 ?

By: Ljubljana

Ljubljana — Thu, 21 Aug 2003 04:06:18 -0800

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.

By: JanetLand

JanetLand — Thu, 21 Aug 2003 04:54:30 -0800

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."

By: JanetLand

JanetLand — Thu, 21 Aug 2003 04:55:57 -0800

Although, I am suddenly intrigued by the thought of Saddam enrolling in mabel's school of beauty and cosmetology in beautiful downtown ortsburg, KY.

By: daveg

daveg — Thu, 21 Aug 2003 05:03:53 -0800

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)

By: dejah420

dejah420 — Thu, 21 Aug 2003 07:23:16 -0800

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.

By: alumshubby

alumshubby — Thu, 21 Aug 2003 08:52:32 -0800

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.