Chandra Spencer (00:00):
2007.
Bob Simon (00:01):
Just you?
Chandra Spencer (00:01):
Just me and my garage and my computer and the support and love of my family. And it was really scary but amazing. I've never looked back. I purchased a new house on the beach in Cambria, and I didn't tell my mom I bought the house. And I might start crying when I talk about this.
Bob Simon (00:25):
In Cambria.
Chandra Spencer (00:26):
Yeah. I didn't tell my mom I bought this house and I told her we were just taking a road trip. And I took her up there and it has a park across the street that has a bathroom. And I took her to the bathroom because she had to go and I pull her out and I'm walking her down the path. I'm like, "Hey mom, do you like Cambria?" And she said, "Yeah, I really do." And I said, "Cool. Well, you're going to come back a lot." And she said, "Really?" And I turned her around and I pointed her to the house and I said, "I bought that house. Because of you, I bought that house." And it was a big moment. And so now she gets to go back there whenever she wants.
Bob Simon (01:24):
Welcome to this episode of Bourbon of Proof where we enjoy spirits with those who have succeeded at law and life over a lot of cocktails. And we're very, very blessed to have our special guest, Chandra Spencer, here today. Chandra, thank you for coming, but first we have to introduce our co-host. He gets pissed if we don't introduce him.
Mauro Fiore (01:47):
I'm like Ed McMahon and Johnny Carson here so I know I'm not the star of the show, but at least I'd like a little introduction.
Chandra Spencer (01:53):
Well, I got my first introduction to him today.
Bob Simon (01:55):
Well, I'm sorry.
Chandra Spencer (01:57):
First official.
Bob Simon (01:58):
Your first official. I hope it's your last time you have to meet Mauro Fiore.
Chandra Spencer (02:01):
I think I'll see him around some places.
Bob Simon (02:03):
So we're here filming live at the ... This is called The Firm and it's a private whiskey bar, members only, owned by our friend Charles Lew, who was our first episode. So we always like to start with a little bit of whiskey.
(02:18):
And we hope it sparks a good story for you, Chandra, because this one's called Scarlet Shade and this is called Orphan Barrel. So Orphan Barrel does these intricate bottles a couple times a year. What they do is they rescue those barrels. The back of the Rick House, they make them special, make them flavorful. This one is actually a 14-year-old one, but it's called Scarlet Shade, which I've never had before. And I'd like to envision in my mind, because I know you're a very big poker player and we'll talk about that.
Chandra Spencer (02:45):
I like the game.
Bob Simon (02:47):
But I think that you're name, if I was playing somebody online, your name would be Scarlet Shade and you would just take all my monies. So we'll see. All right, we'll pour and then we'll talk.
Chandra Spencer (02:58):
Scarlet Shade. I like that.
Bob Simon (02:59):
It's a good one. Good color to this.
Chandra Spencer (03:01):
It'd be my poker name.
Mauro Fiore (03:02):
What would be my avatar be, Bob?
Bob Simon (03:03):
Your avatar would be Borrow Mauro's money.
Mauro Fiore (03:07):
Dead Money.
Bob Simon (03:10):
Dead Money?
Mauro Fiore (03:11):
Dead Money Mauro.
Chandra Spencer (03:13):
Mad Man Mauro maybe. Who's that on your shirt, Mauro?
Mauro Fiore (03:18):
This is the Notorious B.I.G.
Bob Simon (03:19):
Biggie Smalls.
Chandra Spencer (03:19):
See? So you can be the-
Mauro Fiore (03:19):
They used to call me the Notorious P.I.G. but that was a long time ago.
Bob Simon (03:24):
And by they, he means his ex. Cheers.
Chandra Spencer (03:24):
Cheers.
Bob Simon (03:40):
All right. Very good.
Mauro Fiore (03:40):
Well, it's very smooth. 14 years. You can tell it's been in the barrel a long time.
Bob Simon (03:43):
Been in that orphan barrel. So Chandra, this has a complex flavor, but you're a pretty simple person at its core because you have your roots in the Midwest.
Chandra Spencer (03:51):
Yeah, I do. Well, started there with my parents. My dad's from Wisconsin and my mom's from Illinois, and they met in college.
Bob Simon (04:00):
Are you a Packers fan?
Chandra Spencer (04:02):
Who isn't? Oh wait.
Bob Simon (04:06):
I mean, most of America.
Chandra Spencer (04:06):
The Bears fans. No, no. Everybody loves the Packers.
Bob Simon (04:09):
I mean, in my last Super Bowl I went to Steelers-Packers and the Packers beat us so I was-
Mauro Fiore (04:13):
Do you own any Packers stock?
Chandra Spencer (04:15):
No.
Mauro Fiore (04:15):
I do actually.
Bob Simon (04:16):
What?
Chandra Spencer (04:16):
Can I have it?
Mauro Fiore (04:17):
I have two or three stock certificates and every year I get a thing in the mail, the vote and the stock meeting, even though I have two shares.
Chandra Spencer (04:25):
If we become good friends, can you leave me that in your will?
Mauro Fiore (04:28):
Yeah.
Chandra Spencer (04:28):
Cool.
Mauro Fiore (04:29):
I got to dig it up someplace. I know I have it someplace. I do get the letters in the mail from the Packers.
Bob Simon (04:34):
Why do you own shares of the Packers?
Mauro Fiore (04:35):
Because it's the only publicly held-
Bob Simon (04:40):
I mean, I know, but why do you?
Mauro Fiore (04:40):
Football team. Like 15 years ago, I saw something online that said the Packers were going to sell stock for the first time in 50 years. So I went in and I got picked like a random lottery that I could buy two shares for ... It was like a thousand bucks a share. For nothing. It's not really worth anything, I don't think. And I bought two shares.
Chandra Spencer (04:59):
It's definitely a big deal though, in the Midwest.
Mauro Fiore (05:01):
So I have two shares of it.
Bob Simon (05:03):
Does it have value or is it just prestige?
Mauro Fiore (05:05):
I think it's just to say you own part of the team. I don't know.
Chandra Spencer (05:05):
It really doesn't have value.
Mauro Fiore (05:05):
I own part of the team.
Chandra Spencer (05:06):
It's just a note to say that you own part of the team.
Bob Simon (05:12):
He also buys landlocked properties in Italy for a dollar. He's got several.
Chandra Spencer (05:17):
Beachfront property in Arizona because when California falls into the ocean one day, right?
Bob Simon (05:22):
He buys a lot of fault line properties. Yeah. This is all-
Mauro Fiore (05:25):
I hear there's going to be some real cheap ones in Palos Verdes.
Bob Simon (05:27):
Oh yeah.
Chandra Spencer (05:29):
Maybe that might be real actually.
Mauro Fiore (05:32):
I think it's Rolling Hills.
Bob Simon (05:36):
Oh. That's why they call it the Rolling Hills.
Chandra Spencer (05:36):
Yeah. So my parents are from the Midwest. They met in college and they moved to California the year before I was born. So even though I come from this Midwestern roots, I was born and raised in California. So I consider myself to be a really nice California girl.
Bob Simon (05:51):
Yeah, because you don't come off as a Californian.
Chandra Spencer (05:53):
Thank you. I consider that a-
Bob Simon (05:54):
Mauro comes off as a Californian.
Mauro Fiore (05:57):
I was born and raised in Los Angeles, so I seem like a Californian.
Bob Simon (06:00):
But why are you wearing Biggie Smalls? That confuses me.
Mauro Fiore (06:03):
Because I'm a-
Bob Simon (06:04):
That's East Coast.
Mauro Fiore (06:05):
I'm into West Coast gangster rap, but who doesn't like Biggie though?
Bob Simon (06:10):
Fair.
Chandra Spencer (06:10):
I know. And that's a pretty cool shirt. And it's as if we called each other and coordinated colors, right?
Mauro Fiore (06:16):
Purple. Purple.
Chandra Spencer (06:17):
Got some purple. Yeah.
Mauro Fiore (06:17):
Bob's wearing a little blue.
Bob Simon (06:19):
So for those of you, you don't know Chandra, you can look her up, but you champion a lot of tenants' rights here in Los Angeles, California. And we'll talk about some of your journey to get there so we can inspire others if they want to start their own firms. And you've had your own ... Did you start your practice in 20 ... No, 2007 when you were-
Chandra Spencer (06:34):
2007.
Bob Simon (06:35):
Just you.
Chandra Spencer (06:36):
Just me and my garage and my computer and the support and love of my family. And it was really scary, but amazing. I've never looked back.
Bob Simon (06:48):
And how many years did it take you to take that leap of faith and start your own firm out of your garage, 2007?
Chandra Spencer (06:55):
About 11. I was doing defense work for about 11 years, and I'm a child of an entrepreneur. My mom was an entrepreneur, so the idea of being an entrepreneur was super scary. But then in 2007, I decided that I needed to be my own boss so I could be a better mom and I could be more in control of my schedule.
Bob Simon (07:16):
When was your daughter born?
Chandra Spencer (07:17):
She was born in '98, so she would've been about nine at the time. And I was divorced, single mom at the time. And I thought, you know what, I got to do something different. I can't be grinding it out as a defense lawyer anymore. And I had been doing a lot of charity work.
Bob Simon (07:36):
Therapy because you're a defense lawyer. Oh, sorry. I jumped the gun.
Chandra Spencer (07:38):
No, my therapy actually was charity work. So I was doing a lot of charity work in Mexico, helping build houses, helping put a roof on an orphanage, just doing that kind of stuff. And I said back then that when you're a defense lawyer, you got to do something to keep your soul alive. That's how I kept my soul alive.
Bob Simon (07:56):
Did you ever do defense?
Mauro Fiore (07:58):
No.
Bob Simon (08:00):
No. I'm a purebred too.
Mauro Fiore (08:01):
I wanted to be a defense lawyer, but then I decided I would finish high school first.
Chandra Spencer (08:09):
So I did the defense work and I did that and then I developed a really unique skill set as a defense lawyer. It was kind of a defense lawyer. It was as a city attorney, a city prosecutor, and I was prosecuting people for municipal code violations.
Mauro Fiore (08:26):
You don't have to tell me about that. My neighbors have thrown me under the bus several times. Something about an illegal tennis court I put in at my house.
Chandra Spencer (08:34):
Oh, yeah.
Bob Simon (08:36):
It's a basketball court.
Mauro Fiore (08:36):
Well, they said it was a tennis court and I had the city attorney after me saying, where's the permits for my tennis court? I was like, "I don't have a tennis court."
Chandra Spencer (08:43):
What city is that?
Mauro Fiore (08:43):
I live in LA.
Chandra Spencer (08:45):
Oh, okay. The big city.
Mauro Fiore (08:46):
I was able to skirt around it. I said, "It was already there. It was just covered by dirt when I moved in."
Chandra Spencer (08:51):
Well, so my big deal, part of this city prosecutor work was I was going after slumlords from the city's perspective and I was putting properties into receivership so that people who were living in these properties could have better conditions. And so I decided I didn't want to be there anymore and I was looking at different options and a person said, "You know what? You're really good at this stuff. Why don't you do that? Why don't you do that for tenants? Do it for the people that you're helping rather than for the city."
Bob Simon (09:27):
So you were representing the city, but going after the people that were victimizing low-rent individuals?
Chandra Spencer (09:32):
Yeah. Exactly.
Bob Simon (09:33):
Oh, wow.
Chandra Spencer (09:33):
Exactly.
Mauro Fiore (09:34):
In those days they used to sentence the slumlords to live in their own buildings, right?
Bob Simon (09:39):
No way.
Chandra Spencer (09:39):
They only did that once.
Bob Simon (09:40):
Really?
Mauro Fiore (09:40):
I remember that.
Chandra Spencer (09:41):
They did do that once. And actually, no, that's really a movie. It doesn't really happen.
Mauro Fiore (09:47):
But I remember that when-
Chandra Spencer (09:47):
You saw a movie about that.
Mauro Fiore (09:47):
When I was a kid that I used to read in the LA Times, they would sentence slumlords.
Chandra Spencer (09:50):
There was one slumlord that for a minute was sentenced to be in their own buildings. But what we were doing is we were actually taking the buildings away from them and fixing them and then the tenants could live back in them, was the idea. And so somebody said, "Hey, tenants can do this in California. You don't have to be a city to do this." So I started writing a business plan while I was working as a defense attorney, and my parents said, "Yeah, go do this. You were built for this." And so I was able to take the experience that I had helping marginalized communities south of the border and translate that to helping marginalized communities north of the border.
Bob Simon (10:34):
And it's very hard to fight because the number one request I get all the time, it's like I need a landlord, tenant lawyer. We get this all the time because we have a lot of our clients live low income or have issues, and it's hard to find somebody to turn to that actually is passionate about doing that work. It's hard.
Chandra Spencer (10:53):
Well, I wrote my whole business plan based on it, and it was scary. It was really scary. My daughter was young, so she would've been about nine. And so one day I was working on some paperwork for a big slumlord case. It was a new one for me. And it was a terrible building in the San Fernando Valley where the folks were without hot water for about four months. They had no gas at Thanksgiving. I was roasting turkeys for them so they could have Thanksgiving. And she was reading the paperwork. She said, "Mom, I want to read this." And I said, "Okay." And she looked at me and she said, "Mommy, I'm really sad." And I said, "Honey, why are you sad?" And she said, "Because all these people have cockroaches and we don't have cockroaches." And I said, "No, honey, we don't want to have cockroaches. That's why Mommy's doing this. People don't want these things. This is not good for them."
(11:47):
And so she was like, "Oh, okay. I get it. You're trying to make that go away." And so I just kept doing it and I eventually started making the business work and things were happening from a business side. My mom and my dad were there 100% taking care of her, loaning me money, doing all the things that great parents do. And throughout the years, I was able to look at my dad and say, "Okay, Dad, I paid you all back. Every dime I borrowed from you, you're paid back now." And then later on, as the business continued to grow, I got a partner, a business partner, and she and I continue to grow the business.
Bob Simon (12:33):
Margaret Elder, yeah?
Chandra Spencer (12:33):
Margaret Elder is my business partner. And one day, a few years back in 20 ... What is it now? 2019. I purchased a new house that on the beach in Cambria and I didn't tell my mom I bought the house. And I might start crying when I talk about this.
Bob Simon (12:54):
In Cambria.
Chandra Spencer (12:55):
Yeah. I didn't tell my mom I bought this house and I told her we were just taking a road trip. And I took her up there and it has a park across the street that has a bathroom. And I took her to the bathroom because she had to go. And I pull her out and I'm walking her down the path. I'm like, "Hey mom, do you like Cambria?" And she said, "Yeah, I really do." And I said, "Cool. Well you're going to come back a lot." And she said, "Really?" And I turned her around and I pointed her to the house and I said, "I bought that house. Because of you, I bought that house." And it was a big moment. And so now she gets to go back there whenever she wants, and she's going this weekend actually. So she gets the chance to spend some years of her life in a beautiful place.
Bob Simon (13:37):
I think that's what we all should do is be able to give our folks that quality life that they gave us or give back. I think everybody here has bought their family houses.
Mauro Fiore (13:45):
Oh yeah. No, my parents are both gone, but today would've been my mom's 88th birthday if she was alive.
Bob Simon (13:51):
To mom.
Mauro Fiore (13:52):
God bless her.
Chandra Spencer (13:53):
Cheers. What's mom's name?
Mauro Fiore (13:53):
Hilda.
Chandra Spencer (13:54):
Cheers, Hilda.
Mauro Fiore (13:56):
I took care of my parents for many years and it was my pleasure. They did everything for me. People always have stories of I had shitty upbringing, this and that. I had the best parents and the best upbringing, which is why I'm such an adjusted guy. But I had great parents and a really good upbringing so I don't have any of that story that I came from the fucking gutter or broken home, whatever. I didn't.
Chandra Spencer (14:20):
No, I didn't either.
Mauro Fiore (14:20):
I mean we weren't rich or anything, but I had my mom and dad and they were great. So maybe-
Bob Simon (14:26):
Mauro, I want you to ... Because the story Chandra just reminded me, the whiskey that you showed me that you brought for her. So sometimes we do the guest second, but I want to do Mauro second as the co-host here.
Mauro Fiore (14:40):
Yeah. So this is a whiskey by Francis Ford Coppola, the director. He's famous for his wines, but he's also making American rye whiskey.
Chandra Spencer (14:50):
Oh, is he?
Mauro Fiore (14:51):
Yes. And so this one, he dedicated to his film teacher at UCLA Film School, Dorothy Arzner, who was the first female director of a movie in the United States that had sound. So she was the first. They called them talkies. So she was the first female director of a talkie movie back in the 1920s. It was called Manhattan Cocktail. And then she ended up as a film teacher at UCLA and Francis Ford Coppola was in her class and she inspired him to become a director.
Chandra Spencer (15:21):
That's awesome.
Mauro Fiore (15:22):
So this is for trailblazing women and so that's why we're going to try this one.
Bob Simon (15:28):
And where's that from, Mauro?
Mauro Fiore (15:30):
This is from Sebastopol, which is up by Napa Valley, which is where Francis Ford Coppola's winery is.
Chandra Spencer (15:36):
The winery is in Napa. Been there a few times. It's a beautiful winery.
Mauro Fiore (15:40):
It is. It is. So we're going to try this one.
Bob Simon (15:42):
Never had this one.
Chandra Spencer (15:45):
I guess I have to finish mine to try-
Bob Simon (15:47):
I men, you don't have to, but-
Chandra Spencer (15:48):
It's all good. I will.
Bob Simon (15:48):
We can mix. We can do a blended.
Chandra Spencer (15:52):
I don't think it works like that, does it?
Bob Simon (15:53):
I don't think it does.
Chandra Spencer (15:54):
No.
Mauro Fiore (15:55):
Coppola, what's the name of his daughter? The one that was in Godfather 3. Sofia Coppola.
Bob Simon (16:02):
She's a director now.
Mauro Fiore (16:03):
Yeah. He has a rosé wine called Sofia that's so good.
Bob Simon (16:08):
I didn't know that was her.
Mauro Fiore (16:11):
It's my favorite. Yeah, that's his daughter. She was an actress for a little while, but I think she's a director now. But yeah, if you ever want a good rosé, try this Coppola from-
Bob Simon (16:22):
Coppola.
Mauro Fiore (16:22):
From Francis Ford Coppola.
Chandra Spencer (16:23):
Thank you.
Bob Simon (16:26):
I've never had a Coppola wine or a whiskey, so this should be a first. Although I think I had Sofia's rosé.
Chandra Spencer (16:30):
You never had their wine?
Bob Simon (16:32):
I'm not a wine guy.
Mauro Fiore (16:33):
Everybody [inaudible 00:16:35].
Bob Simon (16:35):
I have acid reflux so red wine crushes me. I don't want to make this a commercial for a Dexalon, my medication, but I haven't had heartburn since 2005 due to Dexalon, 60 milligrams, one pill a day.
Chandra Spencer (16:47):
Such a pretty bottle. Cool bottle.
Mauro Fiore (16:47):
If you'd like to drink, heartburn is the worst.
Bob Simon (16:51):
Oh wow. This is completely different from what we just had.
Mauro Fiore (16:54):
Try this.
Bob Simon (16:55):
This is completely different from what we just had.
Mauro Fiore (16:59):
This is more of a ... Obviously it's a rye.
Chandra Spencer (17:02):
Trailblazing women. Mom's birthday.
Mauro Fiore (17:02):
It's a straight rye.
Bob Simon (17:04):
To mom's birthday, trailblazing women.
Mauro Fiore (17:06):
Yep. Happy birthday to mom. This is a three year straight rye, so it's going to be a little bit spicy.
Bob Simon (17:12):
It's a young rye.
Mauro Fiore (17:15):
It's a younger and it's going to be a little bit hotter, spicier.
Chandra Spencer (17:18):
It's definitely hotter and spicier. Yeah.
Bob Simon (17:20):
Which is crazy because the one that we had first I think is the higher proof. No, maybe not. This might be under 50. 45. Yeah. 45.
Mauro Fiore (17:28):
This is also 45.
Bob Simon (17:29):
Yeah, it's about the same.
Mauro Fiore (17:30):
90 proof.
Bob Simon (17:32):
But you can taste the difference in these.
Chandra Spencer (17:34):
Yeah. Very much so. This one has ... I said the other one was more complex and I think spicy is the word. And I like spicy. Spicy people are-
Mauro Fiore (17:45):
California has lots of good whiskeys now.
Chandra Spencer (17:48):
Spicy food. Spicy people.
Bob Simon (17:50):
Sonoma's up there. But you could taste the difference. Kentucky, NorCal.
Chandra Spencer (17:54):
Yeah. They're trying to make wine in other states now. They're trying to make whiskey in other states and some are better at it than others.
Bob Simon (18:02):
It's just because the temperature variance because it gets so hot and humid in Kentucky and the next week it could be ice cold and you just get that variance in the barrel that changes it.
Chandra Spencer (18:11):
So my business partner's husband is from Kentucky.
Bob Simon (18:14):
Really?
Chandra Spencer (18:14):
Uh-huh. So when you get the chance to chat with her, you'll have to have her husband on as well.
Bob Simon (18:19):
Interesting.
Chandra Spencer (18:20):
Yeah, he's from Kentucky and he and my husband, my now husband, one of their favorite things to do is drink bourbon together. So when my husband heard I was coming here, he was like, "Oh, what day is that?" He was hoping he could be here. Couldn't work it out.
Mauro Fiore (18:36):
Bob, have I been to Kentucky more than once or just one time? Because I've been to-
Bob Simon (18:41):
No, twice. We've been there together twice.
Mauro Fiore (18:42):
Oh yeah. We went to the Kentucky Derby one year and then we went to the Bourbon Estate twice. Because I know for sure I think I bought you those cufflinks.
Bob Simon (18:49):
You did buy them. These cufflinks were bought by Mauro Fiore.
Chandra Spencer (18:50):
Those are awesome.
Mauro Fiore (18:51):
I was super drunk at the bullet-
Bob Simon (18:55):
He likes to gift me.
Chandra Spencer (18:56):
Do you have your Taylor Swift friendship bracelet on too?
Bob Simon (18:58):
My Taylor ... I was a Swiftie. I was at the conference. No, this is ... One of my daughters made this for me. They last long. I've had this for over a year. Usually they break because my kids tear at them.
Mauro Fiore (19:08):
I remember I was super drunk and I bought two pairs of those. I gave you one pair at the Bullet Distillery. Was it Bullet and it was the same where they made Old Fitzgerald and a few other bourbons. Because we did the bourbon tour out there one year when we went to the Kentucky Derby.
Chandra Spencer (19:25):
I followed y'all on Instagram when you were doing that.
Bob Simon (19:28):
That was a fun one.
Chandra Spencer (19:29):
Yeah, it looked like fun.
Bob Simon (19:30):
Mauro only slept on the bus on the way to and from so he didn't miss any of the tours.
Chandra Spencer (19:33):
You didn't sleep any other time, the entire trip?
Mauro Fiore (19:37):
Well, I mean probably most of the time. If I usually lay down, I'll sleep. I have the gift, they call it.
Bob Simon (19:44):
Not like the grift.
Chandra Spencer (19:47):
You can nap anywhere. That's a solid skill. It's an important skill to have.
Mauro Fiore (19:50):
Except when I'm on a long flight, when me and Bob sometimes we go to Europe and stuff. I like to spend most of my flight harassing Bob on the plane, making sure he doesn't sleep. So we're going to fly here pretty soon to Spain this Saturday and I will make sure I harass Bob on the whole entire-
Bob Simon (20:05):
He likes to get up and walk by me, poke me, put things in my face. This is constant.
Chandra Spencer (20:10):
I just did a 14 hour flight a couple of weeks ago.
Mauro Fiore (20:13):
Where was that? A 14 hour. Where were you?
Chandra Spencer (20:14):
Australia.
Bob Simon (20:15):
Yeah. She loves to travel.
Chandra Spencer (20:17):
I do love to travel.
Mauro Fiore (20:17):
14 hours. Wowser.
Chandra Spencer (20:18):
So you balance your practice now. I mean a lot of people got to hear and understand that you're in court a lot, but you're also able to practice remotely a lot of the time and help folks wherever you are. So how did it change starting 2007 in your garage to now? What is it like?
(20:34):
Well, one of the things that we did, and I did deliberately was made sure that everything was portable. So we were ahead of the game on getting everything on the cloud and getting everything so that you could do it remotely. I like to say I worked from home before it was cool and COVID. So we have everything there. I have access to all my files wherever I am. And I like to travel, but I work when I travel and it's just part of life. I'm not in court that much because most of the time on these cases, the insurance companies don't want to take you to trial.
Bob Simon (21:13):
Once they find that your people that are lower socioeconomic, the tenants, they have a lawyer representation, it's like, "Okay guys, you got us." Right?
Chandra Spencer (21:21):
Yeah. And when people have bedbugs or cockroaches or sewage, the kind of stuff that makes you go ... I call that the ick factor. The insurance companies know.
Bob Simon (21:32):
Don't say ick factor around Mauro. He gets excited. Different type of thing.
Chandra Spencer (21:35):
I like to say-
Mauro Fiore (21:36):
Tell me more about the cockroaches.
Chandra Spencer (21:38):
Sewage is sexy in my business. But they're not going to take it to trial. So I would love to be in the courtroom more. I love it. One of my greatest-
Mauro Fiore (21:51):
You should come work in my office.
Chandra Spencer (21:53):
I like to work for myself. Remember that Mauro? I'm pretty sure I wouldn't do a very good job of being your employee.
Bob Simon (22:00):
Mauro doesn't even like to work for himself.
Chandra Spencer (22:02):
But I tried this case in federal court back in 2009 and it was probably my most impactful case I've ever done. And it was a bench trial though, and it had to be. And federal government was trying to shut down a mobile home park that was in terrible shape and we were fighting for the people who lived there. So they didn't have to just all scatter into the wind. They were farm workers. They were part of a large indigenous population from Mexico that had their own culture and everything. And I spent about three weeks in Riverside trying that case. And we took a week off. That's the nice thing about not being a jury trial is you could take some time off and think about your closing argument. So I took a week off and I went back to my law school and talked to my professors.
Bob Simon (22:49):
Where'd you go to law school?
Chandra Spencer (22:50):
Pepperdine.
Bob Simon (22:51):
Oh, me too.
Chandra Spencer (22:52):
Yeah.
Bob Simon (22:52):
We actually, we went to an accredited law school.
Chandra Spencer (22:55):
Yes we did. You went to West LA, right?
Mauro Fiore (22:58):
Yes.
Chandra Spencer (22:59):
CI?
Mauro Fiore (22:59):
Yes. UWLA, University of Weak Legal Analysis.
Chandra Spencer (23:03):
No, but my contracts professor went over to West LA and she was great.
Mauro Fiore (23:07):
Wow. When I went there, none of the professors were great.
Chandra Spencer (23:11):
Oh, we loved her at Pepperdine. We were sad to her go.
Mauro Fiore (23:14):
But I always say ... I don't know. Did you learn anything sitting in class? I didn't. I just read the outlines and shit. I taught myself all that stuff.
Chandra Spencer (23:22):
I think I learned how to learn.
Bob Simon (23:24):
That's true.
Chandra Spencer (23:25):
If that makes any sense.
Bob Simon (23:25):
I agree with you on that.
Chandra Spencer (23:26):
I think that's what law school's about is for two reasons. You learn how to learn and you learn how much you can force yourself to do and think on little sleep. So I went back to my law school, talked to my remedies professor. Remember Greg Ogden?
Bob Simon (23:41):
Yeah. Yes.
Chandra Spencer (23:42):
Yeah. Greg Ogden and I sat down and had lunch in the teacher's cafeteria kind of thing. And we talked about remedies and what you could do to make sure this mobile home park stayed open.
Bob Simon (23:55):
Remedies was one of my favorite. It was I think a third year class. Remedies was the class like, oh, you learn the shit, now get paid. That was all I took from remedies. These are the ways you get money.
Chandra Spencer (24:04):
Well, in this case it wasn't about money though, which was interesting. And I never got paid for this case. I did it all pro bono. But my Google value went through the roof so I guess that is worth something.
Bob Simon (24:15):
See, lawyers make too much sense. They try to think too much of in that moment. I can make money in that case. That's not how it works. That's what it's all about.
Chandra Spencer (24:22):
No. I couldn't make any money.
Mauro Fiore (24:23):
Symbolic verdicts are very valuable.
Chandra Spencer (24:24):
It was a big deal.
Bob Simon (24:26):
We know friends like a billion dollar verdicts they'll never collect, but they're billboard verdicts.
Mauro Fiore (24:29):
They're great billboard verdicts.
Chandra Spencer (24:30):
Oh yeah. There's been some recent ones like that. But yeah.
Mauro Fiore (24:33):
It helps.
Chandra Spencer (24:33):
So this one, the goal was to keep the park open long enough for the folks to relocate to another park that was being built so that we didn't have 3,000 people suddenly homeless. And it was pretty cool. It was a pretty cool moment. I got up in front of the judge and it was Judge Stephen Larson, federal court in Riverside.
Bob Simon (24:52):
Beautiful courthouse, by the way.
Chandra Spencer (24:54):
Yeah. And a great bar across the street.
Bob Simon (24:55):
What's the bar across the street?
Chandra Spencer (24:58):
They have a great tequila bar across the street at the Mission Inn. At least they did back then.
Bob Simon (25:01):
Oh no. Because when I tried a case we'd walk on the Mission Inn. It's the other way. So the tequila bar was ... I know it's right across the walkway there. They still have it there.
Mauro Fiore (25:10):
Parrot cages.
Chandra Spencer (25:11):
Yeah.
Mauro Fiore (25:13):
Big parrot.
Chandra Spencer (25:14):
Yeah. So we tried this case and I got up to do my closing argument and I felt this huge weight of the world on me and then I just let it go. And it was really neat. And judge came back a few hours later with his written opinion.
Bob Simon (25:31):
A few hours?
Chandra Spencer (25:31):
A few hours.
Bob Simon (25:31):
Shit, you're lucky.
Chandra Spencer (25:32):
And he had already pre-written the opinion, but then he laced a lot of my closing argument into his opinion. So as soon as he started reading it and I heard my words, I knew we won.
Bob Simon (25:42):
That's awesome. That's awesome.
Mauro Fiore (25:43):
Have you ever done any more mobile home cases?
Chandra Spencer (25:45):
I have.
Mauro Fiore (25:45):
Because the most notorious mobile home slumlord is that guy Jimmy Goldstein. You ever deal with Jimmy Goldstein?
Chandra Spencer (25:50):
No. No.
Mauro Fiore (25:51):
He's the guy that's at the Laker games that looks like a lizard with a hat on.
Bob Simon (25:55):
Oh, that sits next to Jack Nicholson.
Mauro Fiore (25:56):
Yeah. The old guy.
Chandra Spencer (25:57):
I'll be sure to run some title though and go after him.
Mauro Fiore (26:00):
He owns all the mobile home parks in California. The guy's always courtside.
Chandra Spencer (26:04):
Interesting. Well, he makes mobile home parks-
Mauro Fiore (26:07):
He's the one that owns that house-
Chandra Spencer (26:08):
Are big cash.
Mauro Fiore (26:11):
Where they filmed The Big Lebowski. You know the movie that-
Bob Simon (26:13):
The trip scene?
Mauro Fiore (26:13):
The scene where they're up in the Hollywood Hills and they see the city and he traces the dick on the paper. Remember that? On The Big Lebowski? I've seen it like 500 times.
Bob Simon (26:21):
I've never seen the movie. Can you tell me more?
Mauro Fiore (26:23):
Oh, that's the greatest movie of all time.
Chandra Spencer (26:24):
You know what, the problem-
Bob Simon (26:25):
Seen it a million times.
Mauro Fiore (26:25):
You've never seen The Big Lebowski?
Bob Simon (26:26):
I've seen it a million times. I'll take a white Russian right now and drink it in your face.
Mauro Fiore (26:29):
No, so it's-
Bob Simon (26:30):
Actually, I don't like white Russians. They're not that good.
Mauro Fiore (26:32):
It's called a Caucasian.
Chandra Spencer (26:33):
They're okay as an after like a replace of a dessert.
Mauro Fiore (26:35):
I like a white Russian. I can go for a white Russian.
Bob Simon (26:39):
Here we go.
Chandra Spencer (26:39):
So you guys drink bourbon before the meal. Do you drink it during the meal?
Bob Simon (26:44):
Yeah, sure.
Chandra Spencer (26:44):
Really? In place of wine?
Bob Simon (26:46):
I don't drink wine.
Chandra Spencer (26:48):
No. I'm saying in place of wine, you drink bourbon during the meal?
Bob Simon (26:50):
Yeah. Sure.
Mauro Fiore (26:50):
They have bourbon pairing dinners you could go to and stuff like that.
Bob Simon (26:55):
Mauro and I went to a dinner at ... What's the name of the place? It was like a 12 ... One of those long Michelin star ones. We did a bourbon pairing so the wine pairing.
Chandra Spencer (27:02):
Nice.
Bob Simon (27:03):
That was a long night.
Mauro Fiore (27:04):
Shit, man, I was-
Chandra Spencer (27:04):
Yeah.
Mauro Fiore (27:06):
Providence.
Bob Simon (27:06):
Providence. Here in LA. Oh my God.
Chandra Spencer (27:08):
I've been there.
Mauro Fiore (27:08):
Providence.
Bob Simon (27:09):
We tricked them into doing bourbon instead of wine and it was brutal.
Chandra Spencer (27:12):
So that little child of mine, the nine-year-old who read the paperwork, she now works at a Michelin starred restaurant.
Bob Simon (27:18):
Really?
Chandra Spencer (27:19):
And she is a sommelier. And so we do the wine pairing things and we usually start out with some champagne and we do the wine and we always end the meal with cognac. Or I always end the meal with cognac because that's my favorite. That's my version of bourbon is the cognac.
Bob Simon (27:35):
What's the difference between cognac and bourbon?
Chandra Spencer (27:37):
Because cognac is made from eau de vie, which is the water of champagne. And the good cognac is made from the very, very aged eau de vie. And so it's made from an entirely different type of substance. So for me, if I'm drinking champagne, wine and cognac, it's like I'm drinking the same thing.
Bob Simon (27:56):
Same thing.
Chandra Spencer (27:57):
Right?
Mauro Fiore (27:57):
I've always wondered that because it says it. If you look at a bottle of cognac, it says champagne cognac on it.
Chandra Spencer (28:02):
Yeah. It's because it's a derivative of the champagne, the eau de vie of champagne.
Mauro Fiore (28:07):
But I've never drank much cognac myself. I haven't hung out with any rappers.
Chandra Spencer (28:10):
Are we going to drink some today?
Mauro Fiore (28:12):
I haven't hung out with any rappers, so I haven't drank cognac.
Bob Simon (28:16):
I don't drink much cognac.
Mauro Fiore (28:16):
I know Jay-Z's big into it. He has his own cognac.
Chandra Spencer (28:19):
It's very interesting stuff because every ... It's like bourbon where it all has its own flavor and everything is different, but the taste changes as you're drinking it. Like wine, it changes as you're drinking it. And not being a wine drinker, maybe that doesn't make sense to you. When you drink bourbon, does it change while you're drinking it?
Bob Simon (28:39):
Sometimes. It depends on how much I've had to drink before that.
Chandra Spencer (28:43):
Oh, it depends on how bad your palate is.
Mauro Fiore (28:45):
I've been lucky enough to have, over the years, two people have given me the Louis XIII Cognac bottles.
Chandra Spencer (28:52):
Louis Tre is what we like to call it.
Mauro Fiore (28:54):
I've had two of them given to me over the years by friends of mine. Very generous friends of mine.
Chandra Spencer (28:58):
Do you still have them?
Mauro Fiore (29:00):
One of them, I had a Halloween party and these bums at my party, they went for the top shelf shit and they drank the whole bottle.
Bob Simon (29:07):
No.
Mauro Fiore (29:08):
Yeah, total scum. And then the other one I have-
Chandra Spencer (29:11):
They're not invited back next year.
Mauro Fiore (29:15):
The other one I have hidden at my house so I haven't, but yeah some-
Bob Simon (29:16):
Where's it hidden?
Mauro Fiore (29:17):
It's hidden upstairs in the pantry next to my kid's Fruit Loops. He always asks me, "What's in that box, Dad?" "Oh, don't worry about it, son."
Chandra Spencer (29:27):
I keep mine in the garage because if someone comes to steal it from my house, they'll never look in the garage.
Bob Simon (29:32):
I have the weirdest shit in my safe at my house. I always imagine if somebody comes and robs me, like the funniest prank ever, they'll open up like, "What the fuck is this shit?"
Chandra Spencer (29:41):
Like your kid's tooth or something or what?
Bob Simon (29:42):
No. Yeah. My kid's tooth is actually in there.
Chandra Spencer (29:44):
In the safe? No way.
Bob Simon (29:45):
There's Elf on the Shelf. There's all kind of weird shit in there. Like, oh yeah, check what's in there. Go ahead.
Mauro Fiore (29:50):
I have a watch case at my house and I certainly don't keep my good watches in there. They could run off with that shit anytime they want. My good watches, they'll never find.
Bob Simon (30:00):
They're in cereal boxes upstairs.
Chandra Spencer (30:01):
Every time we go on vacation when we travel, because we love to travel, my husband takes his Rolex and he hides it in a random place in the house. And I always make him tell me in case something happens and he forgets. And one year he told me that he hid it in the rafters of the garage in the wrapping paper box. Really? You hid your Rolex in the wrapping paper box? I mean, we have a safe. He never puts it in the safe. He always puts it up in a random place.
Bob Simon (30:34):
Not behind a painting either. Too obvious.
Chandra Spencer (30:36):
Yeah. So in the wrapping paper box.
Bob Simon (30:39):
We used to hire the plastic pop-off vodka bottles in college up above the popcorn ceilings. So if we got raided, our dorms, you couldn't get them.
Mauro Fiore (30:47):
The pop-off, you could use it also to-
Chandra Spencer (30:49):
Is that where you hide the dope too?
Mauro Fiore (30:52):
Pop-off, you could use it to strip wallpaper too if you needed to work on the weekend.
Bob Simon (30:54):
It'd also wake you up from a long slumber.
Mauro Fiore (30:56):
The worst vodka. It's like gasoline.
Bob Simon (31:00):
That's how they made bombs.
Chandra Spencer (31:00):
It's like PBR for beer.
Mauro Fiore (31:03):
PBR isn't bad. I could drink a little PBR. I'm not a big beer drinker, but PBR is okay.
Chandra Spencer (31:08):
PBR is to be used for boiling broths and not for drinking.
Bob Simon (31:11):
See, this is the Wisconsin that I like.
Chandra Spencer (31:12):
Yes. You must use your PBR to boil broth.
Mauro Fiore (31:16):
In high school, we used to drink Meister Brau.
Chandra Spencer (31:17):
What about Old Style? Did you ever drink Old Style?
Mauro Fiore (31:19):
Yeah. From Chicago? Yeah, we tried some of that.
Bob Simon (31:21):
So it's your turn now, Chandra. We got the last 10 minutes to talk about your special brew you brought today.
Chandra Spencer (31:26):
I brought you guys something special. Speaking of cognac. But we might want to get you a new cup, Mauro.
Mauro Fiore (31:32):
Okay.
Chandra Spencer (31:33):
Looks like the flies like your bourbon that you brought.
Mauro Fiore (31:35):
I'm drawing flies as they say.
Chandra Spencer (31:43):
And it's a big box and it requires some effort. Probably takes a forklift too.
Bob Simon (31:48):
Do you need a worker's comp lawyer? Because Mauro knows somebody. A rotator.
Chandra Spencer (31:52):
I'm going to move you over here. So we were talking about cognac and we were talking about that Louis Tre so I thought I'd bring you guys some today.
Bob Simon (32:00):
I've never had-
Mauro Fiore (32:01):
Now, the ones I've got both were in the red box. So what's the difference between the red box and this gold box?
Bob Simon (32:06):
This is the time collection, obviously.
Chandra Spencer (32:07):
This is a time collection box. And it's the one that the guy that I buy these kinds of things from had. And it looked cool because it's so fancy when you open it. So let me fancy open it for you.
Mauro Fiore (32:20):
Okay. Let's see.
Chandra Spencer (32:22):
Okay. See if I can do this right. It's a little like a Rubik's Cube though. Trying to put it back together.
Bob Simon (32:29):
Can we turn it this way? Is this possible to do that?
Chandra Spencer (32:32):
This one.
Bob Simon (32:34):
I want the camera to see this because I've never ...
Chandra Spencer (32:37):
Okay.
Bob Simon (32:38):
Why don't you switch it? You come to this side.
Mauro Fiore (32:39):
You open the top flap.
Chandra Spencer (32:40):
Oh, you want to switch spots?
Bob Simon (32:42):
Yeah. I just want you to do it this way. I can watch.
Chandra Spencer (32:42):
I'll stand up.
Bob Simon (32:42):
I'll watch off camera.
Chandra Spencer (32:45):
We have to open it this way. This way. I don't know which camera I should point this at. You open that. It even has a schematic that tells you how to open it in Japanese and English. So you open this and then you take this off.
Bob Simon (32:52):
Speaking of a safe.
Chandra Spencer (32:53):
I know. It's pretty ... No one would ever assume there's any-
Bob Simon (33:06):
If there's nothing in here, I'm going to be real pissed.
Chandra Spencer (33:08):
I know. I would be too, actually.
Bob Simon (33:10):
Look at this.
Chandra Spencer (33:11):
And then you pop it. Well wait, we got to do this. See, it's been a while since I've opened it. So I only open it typically three times a year. Christmas Eve, and two honorable days to honor my dad. And this is why we're doing this today. So we're going to take this out of here. Can you do me a solid and remove that? Thank you. And so when we open ... So this opens like this, and then you open it here and it pops open.
Bob Simon (33:42):
Wow.
Chandra Spencer (33:42):
How cool is that?
Bob Simon (33:43):
Wow. Look at this thing. Mauro, you have one of these, but I've never seen it before.
Mauro Fiore (33:49):
Yeah. It's pretty crazy. Yeah, that's what it looks like.
Chandra Spencer (33:55):
And then if you want to keep it on your shelf, then you can put this beautiful glass one in there. But I always keep it sealed.
Bob Simon (34:06):
Okay. So we're going to partake in this, yeah?
Chandra Spencer (34:08):
I think so.
Bob Simon (34:09):
This is now four times a year.
Chandra Spencer (34:11):
Yeah. Well actually I didn't get to do it the third time this year, so we're going to do it because I didn't get to do it yet. So my dad was a brandy drinker, but if my dad could have afforded this kind of cognac, he would've bought this kind of cognac. So I like to do this as cheers to dad. We did cheers to mom. Now we're going to do cheers to dad.
Mauro Fiore (34:31):
My dad liked to drink Chivas Regal.
Bob Simon (34:34):
You get it on a plane.
Mauro Fiore (34:35):
Yeah. My dad loved that. He swore that was the best there was.
Chandra Spencer (34:39):
So dad was a brandy drinker. Your dad was a Chivas Regal drinker.
Mauro Fiore (34:41):
Chivas Regal. He swore by it.
Chandra Spencer (34:44):
So my dad loved brandy and cognac and brandy are very similar, but cognac's like the fancy version of brandy. It's like the bougie version of brandy. So we're going to get bougie boys.
Bob Simon (34:56):
Let's bougie it up.
Mauro Fiore (34:57):
I've had that Armenian brandy they call it or whatever. That's brandy, the Armenian word.
Chandra Spencer (35:02):
I don't think I've had that one.
Bob Simon (35:04):
He's talking about Tinder right now. What is this?
Chandra Spencer (35:07):
It's like a whole label. It's fancy.
Mauro Fiore (35:10):
Nice.
Bob Simon (35:10):
I'm into this. 1874.
Chandra Spencer (35:12):
Yeah. That's where the water is that old that they use to make this stuff. Yeah, it's crazy. I feel like I have to pour it like wine. And typically you get this in a restaurant and you get a one ounce pour or a two ounce pour.
Bob Simon (35:31):
This reminds me of some reason from The Three Amigos when he has that water and the little sash that looks like that and he pours it and Chevy Chase is just pouring it all over his face and bathing in it. Looks like this to me. That's what I think the inspiration was for The Three Amigos.
Mauro Fiore (35:43):
You remind me of El Guapo from-
Bob Simon (35:45):
[foreign language 00:35:46].
Mauro Fiore (35:48):
From The Three Amigos.
Bob Simon (35:48):
Oh, cheers. I'm so excited for this.
Chandra Spencer (35:48):
Cheers to dad.
Bob Simon (35:48):
To dad.
Chandra Spencer (35:52):
And dads. And being dads. You're a dad. You're a dad?
Mauro Fiore (35:56):
I'm definitely a dad.
Chandra Spencer (35:57):
Yeah.
Bob Simon (35:58):
We've got kids the same age.
Chandra Spencer (35:58):
Cheers to dads.
Mauro Fiore (35:59):
Now that hits differently when you've been drinking bourbon all day.
Bob Simon (36:08):
Oh my God. The finish is amazing. That's where it gets you at the end. Cool.
Chandra Spencer (36:10):
The complexity.
Bob Simon (36:12):
This does taste different. I taste a raisin at the end.
Mauro Fiore (36:15):
I was going to say it tastes like grapes.
Bob Simon (36:17):
Yeah. Maybe that's why.
Chandra Spencer (36:18):
Because it's kind of got that-
Mauro Fiore (36:21):
You can get that champagne taste. Tastes like grapes.
Bob Simon (36:23):
This is fantastic.
Chandra Spencer (36:24):
Something different.
Mauro Fiore (36:24):
It really stays on the palate a long time. Wow. It's great.
Chandra Spencer (36:30):
And every time I drink it, it tastes different to me.
Mauro Fiore (36:33):
I know people love to smoke cigars when they drink cognac.
Chandra Spencer (36:36):
Yeah. Cognac and cigars are supposed to go well together.
Bob Simon (36:39):
This is fantastic.
Chandra Spencer (36:41):
So now maybe you'll try something new.
Mauro Fiore (36:42):
Cognac, cigars and chocolate is the thing that people like.
Chandra Spencer (36:45):
Well, I'm all in for the chocolate. Cigars, not so much.
Bob Simon (36:49):
I'm not a cigar guy. Most people are surprised. "You like whiskey. Do you like cigars?" No.
Mauro Fiore (36:54):
Did I get you one time to the Grand Havana and you were like, "Get me out of here."?
Bob Simon (36:57):
Exactly. I was there for 10 minutes.
Mauro Fiore (36:59):
I'm a member of a cigar club in Beverly Hills.
Chandra Spencer (37:01):
I've been there a number of times.
Mauro Fiore (37:02):
Yeah, I'm a member there. Me and Dordick share a humidor there so we're members. And we go all the time. ].
Bob Simon (37:08):
This is so good.
Mauro Fiore (37:08):
And one time we finally got Bob in there and he was just like, "Get me out of here." Because everyone's just smoking and it's just-
Chandra Spencer (37:14):
I usually go every December for the LATLC. A year-end board meeting with Jeremy Tissot.
Bob Simon (37:22):
Los Angeles Trial Lawyers' Charities. He texted me this morning. I talked about-
Mauro Fiore (37:27):
You know one thing you need to know about LATLC? Me and Bob are emeritus board members and we take that very seriously.
Chandra Spencer (37:32):
Well, I am a current board member who takes it very seriously.
Mauro Fiore (37:35):
In other words, I put my time in. My name is still somewhere floating around in there I think on paperwork.
Chandra Spencer (37:40):
I know. I think you're still on our website.
Bob Simon (37:40):
I think I was president in 2015, back in the day.
Chandra Spencer (37:40):
You were.
Mauro Fiore (37:45):
Me and Bob are from the old days when we were trying to get that thing off the ground. Now it's big or whatever, but if it wasn't for me and Bob and Min and Scott Corwin, wouldn't even exist.
Chandra Spencer (37:55):
I almost beat Min in a poker tournament. An LATLC poker tournament.
Bob Simon (37:58):
That's a big deal. Min's a good player.
Chandra Spencer (37:59):
Yeah. I would've beat him, but I was too nice. I guess I got to stop being so nice.
Bob Simon (38:04):
What is your poker playing style? Oh, this is good.
Chandra Spencer (38:06):
My poker playing style is I show up in a T-shirt and sweats and I act like I don't know what I'm doing.
Bob Simon (38:13):
Interesting.
Chandra Spencer (38:14):
It's a girl thing.
Bob Simon (38:15):
Okay. If you had to have pocket jacks or eight seven of spades, what would you rather have?
Mauro Fiore (38:21):
To move all in with?
Bob Simon (38:22):
No, just pre-flop.
Chandra Spencer (38:23):
I have a favorite hand.
Bob Simon (38:25):
No, you got six people at the table.
Chandra Spencer (38:27):
Pocket jacks.
Mauro Fiore (38:27):
I'll take the jacks.
Chandra Spencer (38:28):
Pocket jacks. That's the better odds.
Bob Simon (38:29):
I'll take the suited odds. Well, you're not going all in. I'm just saying before the flop. When the cards get dealt. No action yet.
Mauro Fiore (38:36):
Bob, but you're always floppy.
Bob Simon (38:38):
Oh, here we go.
Chandra Spencer (38:40):
My favorite hand to start with in poker is queen, 10 suited.
Bob Simon (38:45):
I love that. Suited connectors.
Chandra Spencer (38:47):
Queen, 10 suited. Yeah, that's my-
Bob Simon (38:49):
You know what they say the computer's hand is? The one the computer wins more with than not is a queen, nine suited.
Chandra Spencer (38:54):
Really? Okay. Well, I'm close.
Bob Simon (38:56):
There's a weird stat that came out with that.
Chandra Spencer (38:57):
I didn't know that.
Mauro Fiore (38:57):
I read a poker book-
Bob Simon (39:00):
Wait. You read?
Mauro Fiore (39:02):
Called Tournament ... I used to read a lot of poker books.
Bob Simon (39:04):
I actually read poker books back in the day too.
Mauro Fiore (39:05):
And there's a book by an old poker player named TJ Cloutier. Have you ever heard of him?
Chandra Spencer (39:09):
Mm-mm.
Mauro Fiore (39:10):
And he said, "Remember there's always an idiot who will go all in with ace, 10."
Chandra Spencer (39:15):
Yes.
Mauro Fiore (39:15):
There's always an-
Chandra Spencer (39:16):
Or ace, king.
Mauro Fiore (39:17):
That will go all in with ace, 10.
Bob Simon (39:19):
I don't like that.
Chandra Spencer (39:19):
Ace, king used to be back when she used to play tennis, Anna Kornikova, looks good, never wins.
Bob Simon (39:24):
Yep. I agree with that.
Mauro Fiore (39:25):
My buddy's a professional poker player named David Danishkar. He's from Westlake Village and he always used to bust out of tournaments with ace, king. I used to call it walking back to Westlake every time he'd bust out on ace, king.
Chandra Spencer (39:39):
I might've busted out that day. I almost beat men with an ace, king. I don't remember. But it was-
Mauro Fiore (39:43):
Yeah, I never got anywhere with ace, king. I'd rather have-
Bob Simon (39:45):
You have to see the board.
Mauro Fiore (39:46):
Pocket sixes.
Chandra Spencer (39:48):
Yeah. So yeah. So LATLC, you guys are past board members. I'm current board member. We do some cool stuff there.
Bob Simon (39:56):
Soiree coming up. We got a lot of good stuff.
Chandra Spencer (39:58):
Yeah. Poker tournament. You playing?
Bob Simon (39:59):
No.
Chandra Spencer (40:01):
No.
Bob Simon (40:01):
Poker. Here's the thing with poker. I'm very good if I have nothing else to do and concentrate on for 10 hours.
Mauro Fiore (40:09):
I don't know about very good. I played poker with Bob.
Bob Simon (40:11):
And I won the belt.
Mauro Fiore (40:12):
One time I came and crushed their game.
Bob Simon (40:14):
Oh yeah, right. By crush he means he passed out after he ate french fries.
Mauro Fiore (40:17):
I haven't been invited back because they figured finally someone else had a place for-
Chandra Spencer (40:20):
I'm feeling like a social poker tournament at Mauro's house. And we're going to drink his other bottle of Louis Tre.
Bob Simon (40:25):
I'm going to tell you something. The last time he had a poker tournament at his house, somebody came in with a shotgun and shot one of his friends and busted up the game. This is a true story.
Chandra Spencer (40:35):
No.
Bob Simon (40:35):
Yes.
Mauro Fiore (40:36):
It wasn't the last time I had a game, but I have had-
Bob Simon (40:38):
I'm surprised you had people back after that.
Mauro Fiore (40:40):
Well, I mean that was a unique situation.
Bob Simon (40:43):
No, it's for real. It was a shotgun.
Chandra Spencer (40:45):
No.
Bob Simon (40:46):
Yes.
Mauro Fiore (40:46):
There was a robbery.
Chandra Spencer (40:46):
That didn't happen.
Mauro Fiore (40:48):
Yeah, because I had a poker game every Thursday night for years. I'm talking five years straight. And it was just usually my friends, just the boys, the boys, whatever.
Chandra Spencer (40:57):
Because only only boys can play poker?
Mauro Fiore (40:58):
You know, it's just the guys, the bums, the poker bums. It's like golf. You have your golf group, you have your poker group, whatever. So just the guys. But then a little bit over the years they would be like, "Oh, can I invite this guy? Oh, can I invite this guy?" So then we started getting infiltrated by randoms, the poker group.
Chandra Spencer (41:19):
Randoms with shotguns apparently.
Mauro Fiore (41:21):
Yeah. So I know none of my friends were the ones who dropped a dime on us that we're playing up here. And at this time, I live in the same neighborhood, but maybe like a mile away. But this particular house I lived in, it was in the end of the darkest, desolate cul-de-sac in Hollywood Hills with no lights on a little small high road. Easy place to get robbed in Hollywood Hills with nobody around. So one of these people that had been a friend of a friend that came to the game probably told somebody and said, "These idiots are sitting up there like sitting ducks." And it wasn't a big game, but sometimes we'd have maybe $5,000, $10,000 in chips on the table. So it was big enough. There's seven or eight guys and everyone buys in 500 or 1,000 bucks, you got five, 10 grand. So it wasn't a huge game, but enough to ... They'll rob a liquor store for 500 bucks, they're going to rob a poker game for five grand or 10 grand. So some guy came in to rob the poker game wearing a pantyhose over his face. And my friend got shot because of me because the guy was wearing pantyhose over his face and I don't think he was the most articulate guy.
Chandra Spencer (42:28):
I hope you had really good insurance, Mauro.
Mauro Fiore (42:29):
He wasn't the most articulate guy to begin with. But then he had the pantyhose. So he started yelling and screaming stuff and it's like, the hell is he talking about?
Chandra Spencer (42:40):
Okay. Let me give you some advice there, Mauro.
Mauro Fiore (42:42):
What are you saying, dude? And then he shot my friend.
Chandra Spencer (42:43):
Let me give you some advice here. Don't always have your poker game in the same place. And next time maybe invite the women because women don't show up with shotguns.
Bob Simon (42:54):
Where did they get the pantyhose?
Chandra Spencer (42:56):
To poker parties.
Bob Simon (42:56):
Where did they get the pantyhose?
Mauro Fiore (42:56):
Because the guy went like this. He went ... I was like, what?
Chandra Spencer (42:59):
Most women don't wear pantyhose.
Mauro Fiore (43:01):
I was like, "What are you saying, dude?"
Chandra Spencer (43:03):
As much as you hate neckties, you're not wearing one.
Mauro Fiore (43:05):
He shot my friend Lance in the hand.
Bob Simon (43:08):
Lance? You say Lance?
Mauro Fiore (43:09):
Lance.
Chandra Spencer (43:10):
Wow. Interesting.
Mauro Fiore (43:12):
And then they ran off with the money.
Chandra Spencer (43:13):
So did you make an insurance claim for the shooting and the money?
Mauro Fiore (43:18):
No.
Chandra Spencer (43:18):
Okay. Just the money.
Mauro Fiore (43:19):
No, I didn't make a claim for any of it.
Chandra Spencer (43:19):
None of the above.
Mauro Fiore (43:19):
No. Hell no. Make a claim for what?
Chandra Spencer (43:24):
Your friend's hand got shot.
Mauro Fiore (43:26):
Oh, he was fine.
Chandra Spencer (43:27):
Did you pay his doctor bill?
Mauro Fiore (43:28):
No. I said you're fine. Put some Bactin on it.
Chandra Spencer (43:31):
Rub some salt in it. Get over it.
Mauro Fiore (43:33):
Yeah. These guys are too sensitive these days. Put some Bactin on it, an ace bandage, you're good.
Chandra Spencer (43:38):
Next time invite the women. It may go better for you.
Mauro Fiore (43:42):
Well you can come and play at my game.
Chandra Spencer (43:44):
Can I? I can come take your money?
Mauro Fiore (43:45):
Yeah. I had a game not that long ago.
Bob Simon (43:46):
You would take his money.
Mauro Fiore (43:47):
At my house. I had a game not that long ago. It was a pretty cool game. We had a good game.
Bob Simon (43:51):
Mauro actually plays very tight. You wouldn't expect that with his personality, but when he plays a hand, he actually has a hand and it's obvious.
Mauro Fiore (43:57):
I play the nuts.
Bob Simon (43:58):
He does. He plays the nuts.
Chandra Spencer (43:58):
What's really interesting about poker is that I think I've become a better lawyer because of poker.
Bob Simon (44:04):
Interesting.
Chandra Spencer (44:05):
Because you have to read the room, you have to figure out your odds, you have to have information. That's what makes us good negotiators, right?
Mauro Fiore (44:13):
Yeah.
Chandra Spencer (44:14):
And so there was one time I was playing this tournament in Vegas and this guy ... I was sitting with pocket twos.
Bob Simon (44:22):
I love the deuces. Either you're in or you're out. You know right away.
Chandra Spencer (44:25):
A pair of ducks. I had a pair of ducks.
Bob Simon (44:26):
You know if you're in or out.
Chandra Spencer (44:27):
And the flop comes out to two, two, ace.
Mauro Fiore (44:31):
Oh gosh. Flop.
Chandra Spencer (44:32):
Now I got-
Bob Simon (44:34):
The best hand.
Chandra Spencer (44:35):
I got quad twos, right? And I was like, oh. So I did my, "I don't really know how to play this game," thing.
Bob Simon (44:42):
Bet.
Chandra Spencer (44:43):
Yeah. And the person next to me was a professional poker player. And I was like, "Okay." And I limped in and then another ace comes out.
Bob Simon (44:53):
Oh boy.
Chandra Spencer (44:54):
So now we got two, two, ace, ace something. So finally on the river, it was he and I, we were just head to head at that point and I pushed all in. He's like, "Yeah, I'll call you." And he's like, "Because we're just going to chop the pot." And he throws down his ace and I was like-
Bob Simon (45:10):
Whoops.
Chandra Spencer (45:11):
"Sorry. Quad twos." He was so mad. I took him out of that tournament and he was so angry because he couldn't read me. And I think that's a big part of us, our negotiating skills. We have to negotiate according to our own strengths. I negotiate like a girl and I play poker like a girl and both goes well for me.
Bob Simon (45:31):
And you have to read the room and decide when you're going to use your cards or use your ace.
Mauro Fiore (45:34):
You have to know when they're bluffing. Especially if you use mediators. Mediators are always full of shit. If they tell you that's all the money they got, it's like, okay, they got a lot more now. As soon as they tell me that's all they got, I know that they got a lot more.
Chandra Spencer (45:47):
For LATLC, Alyssa Shablowski and I did a class for the women on how to play poker so we'd get more women playing. So we were teaching women how to play poker and from that, this idea came in my head that we should have classes for women on how to negotiate like a girl. Because women negotiate differently than men. We approach the world typically differently than men. And that's what makes the world a beautiful place. So I play poker like a girl. I negotiate like a girl and it all works out.
Mauro Fiore (46:17):
Interesting. Bob negotiates like a girl too.
Chandra Spencer (46:19):
And I will never bring a shotgun to a poker party.
Bob Simon (46:21):
Well, Mauro has a different lifestyle, let's just say. I'm surprised you didn't have something under the table to shoot back the guy.
Mauro Fiore (46:32):
I actually did have a gun, but it was in the chip box with the money.
Bob Simon (46:36):
No.
Mauro Fiore (46:36):
I left it. Yeah.
Bob Simon (46:37):
Why would you put it in the chip box with the money? That's what they're going to go get.
Mauro Fiore (46:39):
I know.
Bob Simon (46:40):
You're like the stupidest crook ever.
Chandra Spencer (46:46):
The dumbest poker player on the planet.
Mauro Fiore (46:46):
Actually-
Chandra Spencer (46:46):
The dumbest smart guy you know.
Mauro Fiore (46:46):
So this is the funniest thing. They took off with a box of money and my nine millimeter Beretta.
Chandra Spencer (46:52):
Oh my goodness.
Mauro Fiore (46:52):
And this was like this robbery-
Chandra Spencer (46:53):
Did they have the numbers filed off of it?
Bob Simon (46:54):
I hope that's tied to a murder too. Your prints are still on that nine millimeter.
Mauro Fiore (47:01):
I'm going to say this robbery was like-
Bob Simon (47:03):
Notorious P.I.G.
Mauro Fiore (47:05):
This robbery was like 2007 or '08. Okay. Long time ago. So last year I got this letter in the mail at my house, which I don't get any mail at my house. It was a letter in the mail at my house from the LAPD. And they said that they have a gun that they recovered that belongs to me. And I had 60 days to go claim it at the LAPD.
Chandra Spencer (47:30):
The Beretta.
Mauro Fiore (47:31):
Or they were going to destroy the gun. And I was like, what the hell gun is that? And I thought about it. I was like, oh shit. The guys who robbed my poker game, they got my gun. So I went down to the LAPD in Hollywood. They had my gun. They gave it back to me.
Bob Simon (47:42):
No shit.
Mauro Fiore (47:43):
So they must've got it in somebody's car that they pulled someone over or some criminal that was robbing a liquor store with my gun.
Chandra Spencer (47:49):
I don't even want to know how many bad incidents happened with that gun between 2007 and 2022.
Bob Simon (47:55):
Mauro actually thinks that it was the LAPD that set him up and did the whole thing.
Mauro Fiore (47:59):
I bet they did. Yeah. Well they got-
Bob Simon (48:02):
Well, you defended city municipalities. Did you ever do cops too?
Chandra Spencer (48:06):
I used to represent cops. Yeah. My ex-husband was a cop.
Bob Simon (48:10):
Has he ever been to a poker game in Hollywood Hills, say 2007?
Chandra Spencer (48:13):
I'm pretty sure not.
Bob Simon (48:14):
Oh, there you go.
Chandra Spencer (48:15):
But I wouldn't have known what he was doing then. So yeah, I did. I represented cities, I represented cops. I used to be a police legal advisor. So it's really-
Mauro Fiore (48:24):
Did you work at a firm or did you work with the city?
Chandra Spencer (48:25):
I did work at a firm.
Mauro Fiore (48:25):
What firm?
Chandra Spencer (48:26):
A couple of firms. I was at Fransel, Strickland, Roberts and Lawrence, and then Richard, Watson and Gershon, and then Burke, Williams and Sorenson.
Mauro Fiore (48:36):
I remember Burke, Williams.
Bob Simon (48:36):
Her husband was actually deep undercover.
Chandra Spencer (48:38):
My ex-husband was deep undercover.
Bob Simon (48:39):
Ex-husband.
Mauro Fiore (48:39):
Wow. He was an undercover cop.
Chandra Spencer (48:42):
Yeah. He was in a really high profile shooting, which kind of led to me actually really making a career originally in the defense world is because of that.
Bob Simon (48:52):
Jeez.
Chandra Spencer (48:53):
Yeah. Some crazy stuff.
Bob Simon (48:56):
Every time I see a legal show based in LA it makes me think how big the city is and how crazy different pockets are and just how interesting.
Chandra Spencer (49:02):
Yeah. His was in Malibu.
Bob Simon (49:05):
Really?
Chandra Spencer (49:05):
The shooting he got in was in Malibu. Yeah. Killed a guy.
Bob Simon (49:09):
Killed a guy?
Chandra Spencer (49:10):
Killed a guy. Yeah.
Bob Simon (49:12):
So Chandra Spencer, we've had the better part of 45 minutes here, drinking spirits, talking a lot, and just drinking a lot of good stuff. What was your Bourbon of Proof?
Chandra Spencer (49:22):
So my Bourbon of Proof. Do I get to say all three?
Bob Simon (49:25):
You can say all three. Look, it depends. Whatever you want.
Chandra Spencer (49:29):
Okay, so here's the why. I'll give you the why. For taste, mine because that's what I love. For meaningfulness, I would say yours because of the power of women in this bottle and I love that. And I love that you did that for me. And for yours, for creativity and the beauty of the bottle and this really, really unique flavor, that one as well. So I love them all, but all for different reasons. It's like having three kids, right? You can't just pick one.
Bob Simon (50:00):
You can love all three kids equally, but when you get to Octomom, there's no way she loves all eight of those kids equally.
Chandra Spencer (50:05):
True. Yeah, that's true.
Bob Simon (50:07):
That's actually a Tosh.o joke, which I still [inaudible 00:50:09]. All right. Thank you for this episode of Bourbon of Proof.
Chandra Spencer (50:12):
Thank you.
