Bob Simon (00:00):
So you were the investigator for the firm-
Mitri Shatara (00:01):
Yep.
Bob Simon (00:02):
And that was doing everything.
Mitri Shatara (00:05):
Yeah. I was one of eight. Over time, it grew to eight. And we would do everything from... We'd get the initial intake, we would call the client, talk to them about everything, then we would actually go meet with them. You'd fill out a paper intake, go through a contract, take photos.
Bob Simon (00:27):
Right now, 2024, how many intakes does your firm do? Day, week, month? What's that look like?
Mitri Shatara (00:33):
We sign anywhere between 3,000 and 4,000 cases a month, and we're in taking nationwide.
Bob Simon (00:39):
What? What did you just fucking say?
Mitri Shatara (00:41):
Yeah. So not just intake, we sign anywhere between 3,000 and 4,000 cases a month, nationwide.
Bob Simon (00:47):
I've signed 3,000 or 4,000 cases in my career. In 27 years. In 27 years.
Mitri Shatara (00:54):
Yeah. We're intaking 9,000, 10,000 cases.
Bob Simon (01:12):
Welcome to this episode of Urban Approved, where we interview those lawyers who have been successful at both law and life. And we do it over a series of very high proof. And this is why we have a lot of high proof alcohols, because we have one of the best bourbon drinkers, and one of my very, very good friends, Mr. Mitri Shatara.
Mitri Shatara (01:30):
Thank you for having me.
Bob Simon (01:31):
Yes.
Mitri Shatara (01:31):
I'm excited.
Bob Simon (01:32):
And of course we have our wonderful co host, blah, blah, blah, Mauro Fiore.
Mauro Fiore (01:37):
Seriously. Like I'm invisible.
Bob Simon (01:40):
Yeah.
Mauro Fiore (01:40):
You need to introduce your most fucking esteemed co-host.
Bob Simon (01:45):
He's not esteemed, he's like [inaudible 00:01:47]-
Mitri Shatara (01:46):
We did sing a song together last night.
Bob Simon (01:47):
... like a vegetable. He likes a steam room. This is a little weird.
Mitri Shatara (01:50):
I feel like a steam room-
Bob Simon (01:51):
So Mitri, we're coming to you from your hometown of Birmingham Alabama. You were so generous to invite us out here, show us where to go get the best alcohol. And the first-
Mauro Fiore (02:01):
We went to that very tasty Italian place last night.
Mitri Shatara (02:04):
Yeah, we went to Bottega. We went to Bottega. You can never go wrong at Bottega.
Mauro Fiore (02:08):
I'm telling you, if you're in Alabama, you got to go to Italian food at Bottega.
Bob Simon (02:12):
Mauro had a lot of Bottega, and he passed out.
Mitri Shatara (02:16):
He did.
Mauro Fiore (02:17):
I had a lot of [foreign language 00:02:18].
Bob Simon (02:20):
I don't know what that means.
Mauro Fiore (02:21):
It means a bottle in Spanish.
Bob Simon (02:22):
Okay. Yeah. [foreign language 00:02:25]. So the first port we have is where we're shooting today. This is the Dread River Rye.
(02:33):
It was awarded, I think three three stars.
Mauro Fiore (02:35):
Three gold medals.
Bob Simon (02:36):
Three gold medals.
Mauro Fiore (02:37):
In the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
Bob Simon (02:39):
So this is right here in Birmingham, they distill this.
Mitri Shatara (02:42):
Right here.
Bob Simon (02:42):
Right here where we are shooting right now-
Mauro Fiore (02:44):
Bob, can you tell us the legend of the Dread River?
Bob Simon (02:47):
So the Dread River-
Mauro Fiore (02:48):
You know the legend of the Dread River?
Mitri Shatara (02:49):
I don't. I do know this is the first whiskey distillery in Alabama in 100 years.
Bob Simon (02:54):
That is true. But the Dread River is rumored to be a water source below the soil level, right here in Birmingham Alabama. If you drill too low, there's a flowing water that's called Dread River-
Mitri Shatara (03:05):
I did not know that.
Bob Simon (03:06):
... That has been fabled. And whenever they drilled the UAB Stadium, they think that they hit it.
Mauro Fiore (03:11):
But it was supposed to be like a... It is like a myth. But when they built the UAB Stadium, apparently they hit the Dread River, and so now it's kind of like not a myth. It really does exist. Some kind of a water-
Mitri Shatara (03:22):
The new stadium or the old stadium?
Mauro Fiore (03:23):
The new stadium. So it's some kind of river below this town.
Bob Simon (03:28):
Well, this is to Mitri we're looking forward to a fantastic episode.
Mauro Fiore (03:32):
And this is a local Alabama Birmingham bourbon. And we're going to give it a whirl.
Bob Simon (03:36):
This is the rye. This is the most decorated one they have. It's a young rye. So I think it's a four-year bottle of 2019, 2020.
Mauro Fiore (03:42):
Well I don't think you can call it bourbon unless it's four years old.
Bob Simon (03:45):
So it's a rye.
Mauro Fiore (03:47):
Is it a rye? But it's a bourbon style.
Bob Simon (03:48):
It's a rye.
Mitri Shatara (03:49):
No, it's a rye.
Mauro Fiore (03:50):
It's a rye whiskey. Okay, so it's not bourbon. As we know, bourbon has to be four years old, or older it to be called bourbon in the United States.
Bob Simon (03:57):
So you know who's a younger than a four-year-old lawyer?
Mauro Fiore (04:00):
Who?
Bob Simon (04:01):
Mitri Shatara.
Mitri Shatara (04:02):
I am.
Mauro Fiore (04:02):
No kidding.
Bob Simon (04:03):
So this is why we want to interview you-
Mauro Fiore (04:05):
Mitri, how long have you been practicing?
Mitri Shatara (04:06):
I've been a practicing lawyer since 2021.
Mauro Fiore (04:07):
Wow.
Bob Simon (04:09):
This is what people don't know about Mitri is, he's operating probably the biggest law firm another previous episode we had with Alex, and Mitri, is pretty much the operator for the whole firm.
Mitri Shatara (04:20):
Yep.
Bob Simon (04:21):
But before that, Mitri, tell everybody what you did before that.
Mitri Shatara (04:24):
I've done a little bit of everything at the firm. I've done everything from... I started actually when I was 16 years old. I asked Alex for 100 day internship. Alex is family to me, and him and my father were real close. And he was like, yeah, you can come on for 100 days. And 100 days turned into 15 years. And I've done everything from taking the trash out to fixing door handles. I put together more IKEA furniture than anybody.
Bob Simon (04:46):
Oh God, it gets hard on your fingers [inaudible 00:04:49]
Mitri Shatara (04:48):
You couldn't pay me to put together furniture.
Mauro Fiore (04:50):
I always have four extra pieces.
Mitri Shatara (04:52):
Every time. And it is a disaster.
Mauro Fiore (04:54):
Is that wrong?
Bob Simon (04:55):
Do you keep the little tools? I feel like you keep little tools.
Mauro Fiore (04:57):
Of course, I do.
Mitri Shatara (04:58):
You may need them. You never know.
Bob Simon (04:58):
But you never do.
Mauro Fiore (05:00):
I'm a hoarder. I never throw away my old underwear. Do you keep your old underwear when you get new ones, or do you keep them?
Bob Simon (05:07):
I actually think they have a big longevity and I think... Yeah.
Mitri Shatara (05:10):
I'm a six month cycle guy.
Bob Simon (05:12):
Really?
Mitri Shatara (05:12):
Every six months-
Mauro Fiore (05:12):
I keep my underwear forever. I've got some underwear that have been to me like luggage. I've had them forever.
Bob Simon (05:17):
I travel a lot with Mauro, and something you need to know, he abandons his underwear.
Mauro Fiore (05:21):
I abandon my underwear. When I'm in Europe, I abandoned it.
Bob Simon (05:25):
He just leaves it on the fucking floor.
Mauro Fiore (05:26):
It's not fit for travel after I've worn it through Europe.
Mitri Shatara (05:28):
Through Europe.
Mauro Fiore (05:29):
With that humidity, it's not-
Mitri Shatara (05:30):
In the summer?
Mauro Fiore (05:31):
I always say, if they got one of those drug sniffing dogs to sniff my luggage on the way home, they'd pass out.
Mitri Shatara (05:41):
After I did that for a while, I got the opportunity to assist the firm in signing new clients. So I actually drove all over the state of Alabama and met with clients. And in a little bit of Georgia, Tennessee and Mississippi and Florida.
Bob Simon (05:54):
So you were the investigator for the firm, and that was doing everything?
Mitri Shatara (05:59):
Yeah. And there were actually eight of us. I was one of eight. Over time it grew to eight. And we would do everything from, we'd get the initial intake, we would call the client, talk to them about everything, then we would actually go meet with them, fill out a... For a while, it was a paper intake, before we went digital, before we went to iPads and Adobe sign and all this stuff. You fill out a paper intake, go through a contract, take photos, medical. If they had any records, any bills already at the house, you get them. Take them with you. Take them back.
Mauro Fiore (06:29):
Always tell them, all mail they back the originals.
Mitri Shatara (06:32):
Right.
Mauro Fiore (06:33):
How many cases did you sign up? I used to sign up-
Bob Simon (06:34):
A ton.
Mauro Fiore (06:35):
I signed up 100s of cases back. I've been practicing since the '90s, so I know-
Mitri Shatara (06:40):
You got a few years on me.
Bob Simon (06:41):
No, but there's a special moment, because I feel like when we sign up clients in their living room, you feel like you're a better advocate for them as you go. And now it's harder as you scale your firm to have that moment. But what a lot of people don't realize is, you guys do a lot of the intake and sign up to clients to this day.
Mitri Shatara (06:58):
Yeah. There are times, even now, I will talk to an incoming client. Or if you refer a client to me, I will always talk to them before they actually go through the intake process. Always take the time, even if it's a five minute phone call to introduce myself and introduce the firm. Even if I'm not going to be the one working the case, because someone took the time to refer the case over to me. Even if it's a friend, it doesn't have to be another lawyer or anything. A friend sends a case over, I'm going to talk to them. I want to walk them through what's coming next.
Bob Simon (07:25):
How many right now, 2024, how many intakes does your firm do? Day, week, month? What does that look like?
Mitri Shatara (07:32):
We sign anywhere between three and 4,000 cases a month.
Bob Simon (07:36):
What?
Mitri Shatara (07:36):
And we're intaking nationwide.
Bob Simon (07:38):
What did you just fucking say?
Mitri Shatara (07:40):
Yeah, we sign, so not just intake, we sign anywhere between three and 4,000 cases a month. Nationwide-
Mauro Fiore (07:46):
I've signed three or 4,000 cases in my career, in 27 years.
Mitri Shatara (07:53):
We're intaking nine, 10,000 cases, intakes.
Mauro Fiore (07:56):
That's like four or 500 cases a day.
Mitri Shatara (08:00):
No, it's about 100 and 120 cases a day. Signed, yes. Intakes, yeah, we're intaking. Some mornings by 10 A.M. we've already had... We'll do 2, 3, 4, 500 calls, just into intake with new potential leads, that then maybe become an intake, and then maybe-
Bob Simon (08:17):
What systems do you have in place?
Mitri Shatara (08:20):
Currently, we are actively using Lead Docket for all our intake work.
Bob Simon (08:24):
That's a Filevine product.
Mitri Shatara (08:26):
It's a Filevine product.
Mauro Fiore (08:27):
We used Lead Docket.
Bob Simon (08:27):
Used?
Mauro Fiore (08:27):
Yeah, not anymore.
Mitri Shatara (08:28):
And we use Filevine for our case management. So there's the integration between Lead Docket and Filevine. And then we've actually gone... And originally, before we were on Lead Docket, we actually had a custom CRM system we built, starting in 2017, and we worked on for a few years, and then it was time to make the switch to something more attached to Filevine. But we've even started customizing Lead Docket to meet our needs where we need it to.
Bob Simon (08:51):
And what do you do with those cases that... Because you guys are in most every state. How many states? 40?
Mitri Shatara (08:57):
Yeah. We will handle cases in pretty much every state in the country. Continental and not. We have an Alaska office in Anchorage. I have a lawyer of counsel in Anchorage.
Bob Simon (09:10):
Wow. So what do you do with the cases out of those thousand that you may not sign that month. What happens?
Mitri Shatara (09:17):
It depends. If it's a case type that we don't handle, and we can refer it out, we send it out. We try to steer our clients in the right direction. So we actually, let's say, we run through the criteria, and it's not a case that we would take, we'll even give them their state bar association number to maybe try to find them help. Even in situations where we do not retain the client, we still want the experience to be a good one. We don't want it to be a bad experience for them, because they've gone through sometimes, something tragic. Even if it's maybe not too... I always have to remind myself, it may not be tragic to you, Bob, because it may be really small to you, but it may be really big to them. And I try to remind myself of that, when I talk with clients and we try to figure out how to better our intake process.
Bob Simon (09:59):
So with those leads that are outside of your practice area, or small geographic, because you take things everywhere, are you still able to monetize those leads that come in? I just want to understand your background, because all lawyers watch this and they get a lot of calls like, well, shit, what do I do with the stuff that I don't keep? That I can still monetize?
Mitri Shatara (10:21):
That's hard. It's hard to keep up with that infrastructure too. So over the last few years we've gotten into more outbound referrals, as well as inbound. And we've had to manage that internally for the longest time. But here recently, I would like to give a little shout out to Attorney Sheriff. And the reason why, is because at the end of the day, it's the first... I've seen multiple tools that have the ability to help with inbound and outbound referrals, and tracking them and everything. And in my opinion, I think Attorney Sheriff has the best opportunity to be the best one.
Bob Simon (10:53):
And I've actually said a lot to Mitri, and Mauro, we use a lot of that too. Look man, we all have a license, and you've earned it. You're a young lawyer, but you're a long professional. Right now.
Mitri Shatara (11:03):
Yeah.
Bob Simon (11:04):
You understand this game more than most, anybody that's probably watching or listening to this, and you know who the best lawyer and fit is for that case. A lot of the times it's you, your firm.
Mitri Shatara (11:12):
Right. We try to be.
Bob Simon (11:13):
Sometimes it's weird, and it's not.
Mitri Shatara (11:15):
And sometimes it's not. And we try to be. And we want to be the best fit. Or if I'm not the best fit, I want to find the best fit.
Bob Simon (11:20):
Yeah, man, that's awesome. And we met... Oh, you were there when we met. We were in Utah. We met him in Utah.
Mauro Fiore (11:28):
Where were we? At the Filevine conference.
Mitri Shatara (11:29):
At LEX. Yeah.
Mauro Fiore (11:31):
Yeah, the LawEx, or LegalEx. I remember meeting you for sure. I know this is not... When I came in last night, I know I met you before.
Bob Simon (11:37):
You met Mitri was at-
Mitri Shatara (11:39):
I was with you all twice in LA.
Bob Simon (11:40):
And he was in... But you didn't meet Mauro at that trip?
Mitri Shatara (11:44):
No, I met Mauro my first trip out.
Bob Simon (11:46):
Oh, yeah.
Mauro Fiore (11:47):
When did he come down?
Mitri Shatara (11:48):
We went to dinner and the stories you tell-
Bob Simon (11:50):
Oh no. He was there the night we drank whole the bottle of Pappy 23.
Mauro Fiore (11:55):
I was talking absolute nonsense, which is rare for me. Normally I talk nonsense, but that night it was even further nonsense.
Mitri Shatara (12:02):
It was the first time I met Ray, too from Even Up.
Bob Simon (12:03):
Oh my God, I forgot about that.
Mitri Shatara (12:04):
That's where me and Ray first met, and we connected.
Mauro Fiore (12:07):
As my buddy, Dorek always says, "Don't pay attention to Mauro. He's got mental problems." That's what he tells people.
Bob Simon (12:14):
He's not talking about metallic, it's just mental problems. No, but I met Mitri at a legal conference. That's why I encourage everybody that's watching or listening to get yourself out there, put yourself out, and be vulnerable, be in different blue oceans. But we met, we're like... People kept saying, you got to meet this guy. You guys both like bourbon, you speak the same language. We both got beards.
Mitri Shatara (12:32):
Both got beards.
Bob Simon (12:33):
Yours is better than mine.
Mitri Shatara (12:34):
And it was the same thing though.
Mauro Fiore (12:36):
I've been growing this one for two weeks.
Mitri Shatara (12:37):
This is trim.
Mauro Fiore (12:38):
What do you think of this? Two weeks.
Mitri Shatara (12:41):
Look, it's coming in.
Mauro Fiore (12:44):
I've got a problem growing hair on my body. This is as good as it gets.
Bob Simon (12:47):
Is that like a paint by numbers on your chin?
Mauro Fiore (12:50):
Yeah. This is like what do you call-
Bob Simon (12:54):
So the second pour we're going into, I actually want to do a taste test, Mitri. Because I knew he brought his favorite bottle, because I was going to bring it, but I knew what you'd bring. And I want to hear the story behind it. But there's another bottle that has a very similar... We got this at LeNell's here in Birmingham, but if you're-
Mauro Fiore (13:11):
Which one did Mitri bring?
Bob Simon (13:14):
Maybe you should do the taste test too. So he brought the Orphan Barrel, which is one of the most unique, I call it, artwork in a bottle. And this one is that Kaine one. What's it called?
Mitri Shatara (13:26):
Virgil... Is it Virgil Kaine?
Bob Simon (13:28):
But the labels look very similar, so it almost looks like Virgil Kaine mimicked a little bit of Orphan Barrel. I thought of you when I bought it. I want you to do a taste test.
Mitri Shatara (13:37):
All right.
Bob Simon (13:37):
We did this once, and somebody poured Jim Beam in my cup, and I got real.
Mauro Fiore (13:46):
It's like Firewater, man.
Bob Simon (13:48):
Firewater is better than Jim Beam. They sold a lot of Jim Beam bottles.
Mitri Shatara (13:52):
Chilled Jim Beam, I'll shoot it all that. Chilled.
Bob Simon (13:55):
You can shoot squirrels too, Mitri, that don't mean it's good.
Mauro Fiore (13:59):
Man, we were at that Italian restaurant last night, Bottega, and I don't know if it was Mitri's friend or somebody's friend, there was some girl came to our table. I think she sold real estate or whatever.
Mitri Shatara (14:11):
Yeah, I think she's in real estate.
Bob Simon (14:12):
That was random.
Mauro Fiore (14:13):
This chick shotgun two martinis-
Mitri Shatara (14:16):
Oh, she did? She was walking out the door.
Mauro Fiore (14:16):
... Back to back. I was like, wow.
Mitri Shatara (14:16):
And it was two for one. And it was dark, it had to be an express-
Mauro Fiore (14:21):
And this was a skinny girl or whatever. She shotgun two big giant martinis in 30 seconds, and then was walking out, and knocking over tables. And I was like, "Hey, take it easy." And she's just knocking over tables on the way out.
Bob Simon (14:35):
You two close your eyes. I'm going to pour one of these two bottles.
Mitri Shatara (14:37):
Okay.
Bob Simon (14:39):
Don't cheat.
Mauro Fiore (14:40):
I'm not-
Bob Simon (14:40):
Mauro's looking.
Mauro Fiore (14:41):
I didn't know I didn't [inaudible 00:14:42] to watch.
Mitri Shatara (14:43):
I'm not cheating.
Bob Simon (14:43):
Don't be an asshole.
Mauro Fiore (14:43):
I always say just the head, I promise.
Bob Simon (14:45):
Don't look through your eyelids, don't breathe through your eyelids.
Mauro Fiore (14:45):
Just the tip, I promise.
Bob Simon (14:46):
Don't breathe... What was that show from Bull Durham? Don't breathe through your eyelids. Relax.
Mauro Fiore (14:52):
Like, Fernando Valenzuela.
Bob Simon (14:54):
That's right. That's where it came from.
(14:55):
Okay, so first taste this one. Both of you. Remember it. Mark and remember it.
Mauro Fiore (15:03):
Bull Durham is one of the greatest movies of all time.
Bob Simon (15:04):
It is.
Mitri Shatara (15:10):
I like.
Mauro Fiore (15:11):
I liked, I liked, I liked.
Bob Simon (15:14):
Don't say anything more.
Mauro Fiore (15:15):
You know Seve Ballesteros was as a professional golfer?
Bob Simon (15:18):
Yeah.
Mauro Fiore (15:19):
One time he-
Bob Simon (15:20):
That's where Seve Fisher's name-
Mauro Fiore (15:21):
He was playing in the Masters, and he had a four-putt on a green. So after the round they asked him, "Seve, tell us about the four-putt on the 17th green." And he's Spanish. He says, "I miss, I miss, I miss, I make."
Bob Simon (15:34):
That's not true. That's not true.
Mauro Fiore (15:37):
Tell us what happened on that four-putt. No, swear to God. "I miss, I miss, I miss, I make." What the else do you want to know?
Bob Simon (15:45):
I feel like there's no way that that's true.
(15:47):
Okay, finish that, and then close your eyes.
Mauro Fiore (15:51):
Holy... You're driving me to Atlanta, right? Because this is the fourth show of the day. I'm just going to tell our listeners, I'm at the point where I'm fucked up.
Bob Simon (16:05):
I'll give you guys light pours.
(16:07):
I'll do a double pour, don't worry.
(16:10):
Oh my God. Okay.
(16:10):
So. Okay, go ahead.
(16:13):
Go ahead, go ahead, go ahead.
Mitri Shatara (16:19):
No.
Mauro Fiore (16:21):
Oh God, they're so different. No, they're completely different.
Mitri Shatara (16:26):
I knew off the smell immediately.
Mauro Fiore (16:28):
This is so much lighter and smoother. I'm not saying it's better. The other one was a little bit more spicy, a little hotter. I think the other one would get me more fucked up. This I could drink more of.
Bob Simon (16:42):
Okay, so for those of you who don't know, Mitri, this is his favorite bottle.
Mauro Fiore (16:47):
Was that the first or the second one?
Bob Simon (16:48):
I'll tell you in a second. Because it was different for both of you. So this is Orphan Barrel, and every year they do a different one. They literally do different artwork, and they take a barrel, right? That's like-
Mitri Shatara (17:00):
Yep. So with this, with rhetoric, they actually found a collection of orphan barrels, and they actually did-
Bob Simon (17:07):
Orphans with the barrels they threw away.
Mitri Shatara (17:09):
Right. And they actually did a 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25. So they released it, batch every year, year over year for I guess six batch.
Mauro Fiore (17:21):
I don't know if they threw the barrels away.
Bob Simon (17:22):
No. But it was the barrels, they were forgotten.
Mitri Shatara (17:24):
They were forgotten about. And the funny story is, I was... I think I was 22 years old.
Mauro Fiore (17:31):
I'm going to look up the statistics.
Mitri Shatara (17:34):
I was in-
Bob Simon (17:35):
No, look this up. This is in. It's a good story.
Mitri Shatara (17:35):
I was in New York, I was with my now wife, Ivana, her mother. I have one of the best mother-in-laws out there. She's a hoot. She wanted to take us to the Polo Club. If you've ever been to the Polo Club in New York, it's a really great restaurant. It's Ralph Lauren's restaurant in New York. There's, I guess, three or four in the world.
Bob Simon (17:55):
Is it like that scene from Pretty Woman, where they-
Mitri Shatara (17:57):
Oh, the Polo bar.
Bob Simon (18:00):
Not Culo. Mauro, not Culo.
Mauro Fiore (18:01):
Polo, not Culo.
Mitri Shatara (18:02):
Not Culo, yeah. Polo not Culo. And I like bourbon, I was 20 something years old. I was in college, I was bourbon, whiskey, blah blah blah. And I was like, I'll have a Jefferson's Ocean. Because I know what that is. And it's good.
Mauro Fiore (18:15):
Me and Bob have both been to Jefferson's Ocean distillery.
Bob Simon (18:18):
It's fine.
Mauro Fiore (18:18):
It's interesting, too.
Mitri Shatara (18:19):
Yeah. And it's good. And so I'm like, cool, I'll have that, because I know what it is. Like, Hey sir, we're so sorry... And this is like, they got a-
Mauro Fiore (18:24):
1792, is the Jefferson's. It's a good one.
Mitri Shatara (18:27):
Yeah, that is a good one.
Bob Simon (18:27):
Oh, that's a good one.
Mitri Shatara (18:28):
Yep. They have a butter person. It's like this whole thing down there. You have a person who does the butter, a person does this. So like, "Sir, we're so sorry, we're out of the Jefferson's Ocean." Our bartender says this is comparable. It's a Rhetoric 22. Well this is the 23. This is the Rhetoric 22, compliments, we're so sorry. I drink it and I'm blown away. I'm like, "What is this?" I've just been drinking Jack Daniels, I've been shooting Jim Beam, I've never really-
Mauro Fiore (19:01):
It says, bottled in Tulla.
(19:02):
Where's Tulla? Where the hell is that?
Bob Simon (19:02):
What?
Mauro Fiore (19:02):
This says, Rhetoric 23. Bottled in Tulla. T-U-L-L-A. Wherever Tulla is.
Bob Simon (19:10):
Are you imagining? Are you seeing a white rabbit right now?
Mauro Fiore (19:11):
Oh, Tullahoma. Tullahoma.
(19:11):
Where is Tullahoma at?
Bob Simon (19:16):
Tell us.
Mauro Fiore (19:17):
Fuck. I don't know.
Mitri Shatara (19:19):
I couldn't find the 22, because they come out in small batch. So I'm in Florida, I'm on a beach trip with my wife a year later. I've been trying to find 22s Forever. Can't find them. On the aftermarket, they were like... I'm a 22-year-old college student. They were like, $500 a bottle. I can't afford that. I can't want to pay that now.
Mauro Fiore (19:37):
When I was in college, we used to drink Mad Dog.
Bob Simon (19:40):
2020. I've been there. Grape.
Mitri Shatara (19:41):
The grape? I like the apple.
Mauro Fiore (19:44):
If you get the grape Mad Dog, put it all over ice in a blender, you make margaritas. That's the best. Mad Dog Margaritas.
Mitri Shatara (19:49):
Mad Dog Margarita.
(19:51):
Mad Dog Margaritas. It's good.
(19:54):
I'm there, we're at Total Wine. And I'm like, "You have any Rhetoric?" I'm just asking. I've been trying to find it. They're like, "We've just got a whole shipment in, and the 23s just came out." They had eight cases of it. I bought two cases. I spent so much money. And again, I was 23 years old, and at that point, a year later, Ivana was like, you're crazy. I had almost blacked out. I was so excited. Because I'd been trying to find it. Because it was allocated here in Alabama. I was trying to... You couldn't get it here. It's on allocation here, if it even gets here at all. I was so excited. I actually bought two cases of it. And then ever since, been very fortunate. I've built the collection. I've got a few sets of the 23, 25 now, because it's now all come out. And it opened my world up to just this whole other side of bourbon, and whiskey as a whole.
Mauro Fiore (20:38):
I want to go to your house.
Bob Simon (20:40):
Oh, they got some... So now with the taste test, I want to know which was your favorite pour? Mauro, your first or second?
Mauro Fiore (20:48):
I liked the first one. Because it was a little bit hotter, spicier more... I felt like it was more of a... Had more character. The other second one was very smooth, very mellow, but it didn't have as much character as the first one.
Bob Simon (21:06):
Mitri, how about you?
Mitri Shatara (21:08):
The first one has more kick, which I like a little bit more. I'm similar to Mauro. I like a little bit more oomph on the back end of it. I like the first one more than the second one. The second one was smooth.
Mauro Fiore (21:18):
The second one very smooth.
Bob Simon (21:21):
So your first one was Orphan Barrel, your second one was not.
Mitri Shatara (21:29):
Ah there you go. See, I knew it.
Bob Simon (21:30):
Yeah. I didn't taste the first one, but you can taste a little bit of the difference.
Mitri Shatara (21:38):
Yeah. There is a difference. The smell is different. The Orphan Barrel-
Bob Simon (21:42):
When you smell it, you're like, oh, this is completely different.
Mitri Shatara (21:45):
Yeah.
Mauro Fiore (21:46):
Bourbons have so many layers to them, depending on how-
Mitri Shatara (21:49):
Like an onion.
Mauro Fiore (21:51):
Having spent a lot of time... Luckily for me, I'm from Hollywood, California, but man, I spent lots of time in Kentucky researching for the show. [inaudible 00:22:02]
Bob Simon (22:07):
We did that.
Mitri Shatara (22:07):
Researching.
Bob Simon (22:07):
Uncle Sam, it was research.
Mauro Fiore (22:07):
And getting tax write offs for the trips.
Bob Simon (22:07):
Remember we had to put bats in the wings of the plane to level it out.
Mauro Fiore (22:12):
We took a private jet to Kentucky one time, and we brought all this bourbon back. We were flying back to LA. And the pilot, on our private jet was like, you can't put no fucking bourbon in the wings. Because the wings are like storage. You can't put bourbon in the wings. I said, well put the bourbon wherever the fuck you can put it. But we're not leaving it here.
Bob Simon (22:31):
We bought a bunch of Louisville bats, and we put them in the wings of the plane.
Mauro Fiore (22:35):
But in my research in Kentucky-
Bob Simon (22:37):
We're lucky, we got home.
Mauro Fiore (22:38):
... I've gone to the distilleries, and I've seen how they make the mash. It looks like fucking oatmeal. It smells weird. So they put all the mash together, and how it ferments and then it turns into white lightning. At first, bourbon is like... People don't know. At first bourbon, it's just white. It's like white lightning, man. It's like fucking thunder... it's, what do you call it? Moonshine.
Mitri Shatara (23:05):
Yeah.
Mauro Fiore (23:05):
It's like moonshine at first, until it gets aged in the barrels and it takes on the color of the barrel. But it's like moonshine.
Bob Simon (23:13):
So Mitri, when you were like... You started working at 16?
Mitri Shatara (23:16):
16.
Bob Simon (23:17):
In the Alex office. Did you ever think you were going to be... What was your goal at that point?
Mitri Shatara (23:22):
So I always wanted to be a lawyer.
Bob Simon (23:24):
Why?
Mitri Shatara (23:25):
Just growing up, I know there was something that attracted me to it. It's kind of a funny story. I want to help people, and I think you can help people in all ways in law. If you do B2B, it's a little different. If you're doing contracts and stuff, you can still help people with contracts, but it's a little different. But I always like, I want to be a criminal lawyer. And I looked at it in two ways. I said, I want to make a good living, because I want to have a legacy to provide for my family. But also if I could help people, I'd be a criminal lawyer. I could help people get off, and not get in trouble with the law, and I could make money doing it. And I also I'm kind of scared of blood, so doctor was not-
Bob Simon (24:00):
But it's funny how you said, you wanted to help people, and want to help them if they get in trouble, as opposed to, you want to help put them in jail.
Mitri Shatara (24:11):
Right. Yeah, right.
Bob Simon (24:11):
I feel like on the criminal side our kindred spirits are like the public defenders, right? Same mentality.
Mitri Shatara (24:18):
But it's not.
Mauro Fiore (24:19):
Yeah. I don't understand these people... I guess, it's a mentality, but you go to law school, and you come out and you say, I want to go work at the district attorney's office to put motherfuckers in jail, because they got a DUI, or they had a bag of fucking-
Mitri Shatara (24:31):
But I think law and order is necessary-
Mauro Fiore (24:33):
... or they had a bag of smoke.
Mitri Shatara (24:34):
... But it needs to be done right?
Bob Simon (24:37):
Yeah, it needs to be done right.
Mauro Fiore (24:37):
Fuck am I going to put them in jail for it?
Mitri Shatara (24:38):
I think law order is necessary, but it needs to be done. And I think we, and not just here in Alabama, or in this country, I think everywhere it's pretty much done wrong.
Bob Simon (24:47):
It is.
Mitri Shatara (24:47):
But I think that's just the way people are.
Bob Simon (24:47):
But if you treat everybody like a human being, you get to their core, you could probably do a lot more.
Mitri Shatara (24:51):
I think so.
Bob Simon (24:51):
[Inaudible 00:24:52]
Mauro Fiore (24:53):
Cops in the United States are so different. I'm lucky, knock on wood, that I've had the means to be able to spend a lot of time in Europe. I'm Italian citizen. I'm very proud. I got an Italian passport.
Bob Simon (25:07):
That's awesome. I know that.
Mauro Fiore (25:07):
And my kids have Italian passports. My father was born and raised in Italy. My father was an Italian fucking army. He's really... People say they're Italian. Fuck, my dad was Italian. So I've spent a lot of time in Europe with Bob. Months in Europe with Bob. We go five, six weeks. This year we're going. Six weeks, we're going to spend in Spain. So we spend a lot of time in Europe. And the cops are so different in France, and in Spain, and Italy, they're totally different. Like in LA, it makes me laugh. LAPD, which will shoot a motherfucker, if you look at them, they'll shoot you, in LAPD. On their fucking cars it says, protect and serve. Protect and serve my fucking ass. LAPD will fucking shoot you if you look at their direction. But if you go to Italy, you go to Spain, you go to France, fucking cops-
Bob Simon (25:59):
They have Uzzi's.
Mitri Shatara (25:59):
Yeah, they have Uzzi's.
Mauro Fiore (26:01):
But the cops are truly to protect and serve the people. I've talked to cops in Spain, and France, they're not looking to shoot anybody. In LA, it's like target practice. Listen, that motherfucker Ben Crump, he might as well buy a house in Malibu. He's fucking there every weekend.
Bob Simon (26:21):
[inaudible 00:26:22].
Mauro Fiore (26:25):
Every weekend, Ben Crump is on TV in LA more than anybody I know. It's like, oh, we got the video. It's like, hey, you got the video. They just shot two motherfucker that were standing on the side walk.
Mitri Shatara (26:34):
Other people recorded it.
Mauro Fiore (26:37):
Ben Crump is the best. My buddy went to law school with Ben Crump, and he says, "Hey man, he's charismatic." Ben Crump how snow to a fucking Eskimo. He's a charismatic fucking guy.
Mitri Shatara (26:46):
What we do, that's part of it.
Mauro Fiore (26:47):
He fucking is the best.
Mitri Shatara (26:50):
Being charismatic and being a people person, is part of what we do. If you're a defense lawyer, or in this situation, a plaintiff lawyer doing civil rights, you've got to be... People have to like you.
Mauro Fiore (26:59):
Yeah.
Bob Simon (27:00):
But how do you do... Mitri, because we've been around... A lot of times we're together like this. And this is the first time we're together and talking, where we're all not on our cell phones, operating, managing, dealing with client calls.
Mauro Fiore (27:12):
I remember Mitri at Law-Di-Gras, last year.
Mitri Shatara (27:15):
Yeah.
Bob Simon (27:16):
But you got to get out of your fucking comfort zone, man. You got to get out there.
Mitri Shatara (27:19):
Oh, yes. Yeah. And so talking about conferences, so you have Law-Di-Gras, and you have [inaudible 00:27:25]. There's so many now. Mass Torts Made Perfect, you have the business, you have all these things, and you have to get yourself out there. You've got to talk to people. You have to meet people. That's how we met. Someone was like, you need to meet Bob, and you need to meet Mitri. And then I was like, "Are you Bob Simon? I hear you like bourbon." And then we just started talking. And then Ironically, a month later, I was in LA, and we spent a day together. We had a great time, and I got to know more people from that.
(27:46):
It's all about exposure and talking.
Bob Simon (27:49):
When I picked up Mitri, I remember at Man Beach, I pick you up at your hotel. He was literally signing a client at the time, and it's second nature to us. He gets in the car on his phone, he's signing the client, I'm doing my thing. Because we get it, man. When you're in that moment-
Mitri Shatara (28:02):
We're like-minded.
Bob Simon (28:05):
But a lot of people don't understand. We are a service industry, right? You're a service industry first. And you guys do it better than anybody.
Mitri Shatara (28:13):
Try to.
Mauro Fiore (28:13):
And to scale it to the level you scaled it is what's-
Mitri Shatara (28:16):
But it is a new... But every day... We're not there yet. I'll always say that.
Bob Simon (28:22):
You're better.
Mitri Shatara (28:23):
We're not there yet. And I'm not just saying that, because we're sitting here talking. I mean it. And I have to give credit to Alex for this. Alex talks about... It's like a football field, because we like sports.
(28:31):
You're a Steelers fan. I'm so sorry. I'm a Niners fan. I'm really sorry for myself.
Bob Simon (28:36):
Who has more Super Bowls, Steelers or Niners?
Mitri Shatara (28:38):
We're tired?
Mauro Fiore (28:39):
Steelers have six.
Bob Simon (28:39):
Steelers have more.
Mauro Fiore (28:41):
If Steelers have six, then Niners have five, right?
Bob Simon (28:42):
If you guys had won the last Super Bowl, you'd be tied.
(28:47):
Steelers have six.
Mitri Shatara (28:48):
Yeah, we have five.
Bob Simon (28:50):
Patriots have six.
Mitri Shatara (28:50):
Actually it was funny. My wife was like, don't talk about your dad today while you drink bourbon and cry. And I was like, I think the only thing that can make me cry is if the Niners won the Super Bowl again.
Bob Simon (28:58):
You guys are close.
Mitri Shatara (28:59):
We were close. And I think this is our last chance this year, but we don't have to go down that path. Because I might cry about the loss. Alex, and I got a give credit to Alex on this. He talks about, it's a football field. And you start on your... What do we start on now? They've changed the rules again, by the way. I don't know if you saw that. The kickoff rules. I don't even want to get into that. But you start on the... You start on the 20. It's yard by yard, right?
(29:23):
You get to the 21, you get to the 22. You never make it all the way to the end zone. And again, I'm taking his words. You never make it all the way to the end zone. And I think that's with everything we do. Our intake, our technology, we always have to be striving to get the extra couple yards, extra couple yards.
Bob Simon (29:38):
Inches actually matter in our industry. Increment of inches matter.
Mitri Shatara (29:42):
It matters.
Mauro Fiore (29:44):
I'm a golfer, I analogize. And Ben Hogan was the greatest golfer from the '50s and '60s. And Ben Hogan always said, perfection is unattainable.
(29:54):
Every day I go to the golf course, and I work on getting better. When you stop trying to get better-
Bob Simon (30:00):
You lose.
Mauro Fiore (30:00):
... is when you're fucking-
Mitri Shatara (30:01):
The more swings you take, the better you're going to be at golf.
Mauro Fiore (30:03):
You have to always try to get better. It doesn't matter how much money you make, or how many climbs you sign. It doesn't matter how well you do, you can always get better. When you stop trying to get better, you're fucked.
Mitri Shatara (30:13):
Yeah, we know exactly. The minute you stop trying to push forward, you're fucked. You're done. You become stagnant. And I don't ever want to be stagnant. That's something like-
Bob Simon (30:22):
That's good.
Mitri Shatara (30:22):
I want to be always moving in some direction.
Bob Simon (30:25):
So Mitri-
Mitri Shatara (30:25):
Even if it's backwards. Sometimes you go backwards. We met you and your beautiful wife for the first time last night. You guys have a nine month old.
Mauro Fiore (30:31):
I was doubting he was married. He was talking... I've heard about his wife three, four times. It's like, I don't know with this guy.
Mitri Shatara (30:39):
My wife is way better than me.
Mauro Fiore (30:40):
Maybe this guy has a imaginary friend.
Mitri Shatara (30:45):
It's a whole world war series.
Mauro Fiore (30:46):
But then I met her, and you could tell she's crazy about the guy.
Bob Simon (30:48):
I've got to steal little [inaudible 00:30:49] -
Mauro Fiore (30:49):
I don't know how he hypnotized her, but she's crazy about him. She loves her husband. Great, beautiful, smart, amazing.
Bob Simon (30:59):
And his baby boy.
Mitri Shatara (31:01):
Oh, Sal.
Bob Simon (31:01):
Beautiful baby boy.
Mitri Shatara (31:02):
My son, Sal. He is a... I'm 100% Palestinian, and that is a white baby.
Bob Simon (31:07):
He looks like a white baby.
Mauro Fiore (31:07):
Yeah.
Mitri Shatara (31:08):
He looks like a white child. My wife is half Ukrainian, and just half American. White. And white baby. But all I tell people is he, has my eyelashes.
Mauro Fiore (31:17):
He's like Nick Dagger. Nick Dagger is Palestinian, and his wife's Ukrainian.
Mitri Shatara (31:22):
Oh yeah, I met them. We actually hit it off on that.
Mauro Fiore (31:24):
Nick Dagger is the best.
Mitri Shatara (31:25):
We had a great time at Law-Di-Gras. And they have a beautiful daughter.
Mauro Fiore (31:29):
Oh, he's got two daughters.
Bob Simon (31:30):
Two beautiful daughters.
Mitri Shatara (31:31):
Whichever daughter was that. And I was like, and it was so funny... You know what? She has blue eyes too, I think. Because we were talking about it.
Mauro Fiore (31:36):
Vanna and Ella, are the first daughters.
Mitri Shatara (31:38):
I had a baby, and Ivana had... He was four or five months old at Law-Di-Gras, so she didn't come. She had blue eyes too. And it was kind of funny, because I was probably saying that she was Ukrainian. We kind of connected on that.
Bob Simon (31:50):
That's awesome.
Mitri Shatara (31:50):
But he's fun at nine months. I'm having a blast.
Bob Simon (31:55):
Because all of us work so hard, and with you... We want to be kind of perfect. You're doing a lot of intake, and be able to make sure these cases are good, investigating them, making sure they get the best representation within your firm. How do you balance that shit, man?
Mitri Shatara (32:08):
You don't.
Mauro Fiore (32:08):
You never do.
Mitri Shatara (32:09):
You don't. And I'll never be the one to sit here, and tells you that there's a life balance to this and that. There's not. It's trying to find little nooks and crannies in everything to make it all work. And sometimes look, you hit roadblocks. We all hit roadblocks and things, and you have to adjust. I decided that I want to make sure that if it's five minutes or 15 minutes, I want to be involved in bedtime.
(32:35):
If I'm not there or not.
Bob Simon (32:36):
We have the same discussion Mauro. We've both bedtime-
Mitri Shatara (32:38):
So I just picked it. That's what it's going to be. So Nirvana has FaceTimed me when I'm out of town, to tell him goodnight. Whether reading their book. Because she's reading to them, but he's nine months old. But as they get older, I'll carry a book with me, and I'll read it on FaceTime.
Mauro Fiore (32:51):
Wait until they're four or five. My son, when I read a book to him, he says, "You skipped the page." It's like, "I didn't skip a page." Yeah, you did. I know for sure you skipped a page. Sometimes I'm tired, and he wants me to... The thing is, they're like creatures of habits, kids. I read the same books. So I'll skip a page, because I fucking want to go to bed.
Bob Simon (33:11):
I started to have my AI bot read them stories.
(33:16):
It's true. They actually prefer the AI.
Mitri Shatara (33:17):
They probably [inaudible 00:33:18] to mess with.
Bob Simon (33:18):
They don't want dad anymore.
Mitri Shatara (33:21):
This is just awesome.
Mauro Fiore (33:22):
Bob, how old are you now, Bob?
Bob Simon (33:23):
I'm 44.
Mauro Fiore (33:24):
44. So Bob's a little older. I'm going to be 50 in a month. So I'm a little older. I didn't get married until I was in my 40s. I had my kids when I was 44 and 46. So I'm a little older. As far as my practice is, it is what it is. It ain't changing. This is it. And it's pretty good. Knock on wood, it's good. I've done great beyond my wildest dreams. So I have a lot of free time that I can spend with my kids, and I'd spent lots of time with him. And to me that's the most important thing for me, is spend time with my kids. If I was 29 instead of 49, it'd be different. But I didn't have kids when I was 29.
Mitri Shatara (34:08):
You were able to focus on what you were focusing on.
Mauro Fiore (34:10):
I was able to focus on what I was doing.
Mitri Shatara (34:10):
Yeah, there's an advantage to that though.
Mauro Fiore (34:12):
Yeah, I'm happy.
Mitri Shatara (34:13):
I agree, because it's hard.
Mauro Fiore (34:14):
Now that I'm older, I spend time with my family.
Bob Simon (34:15):
Because you still have to travel a lot. You're away from your family a lot, but how do you still stay present?
Mitri Shatara (34:23):
And then technology, I was about to say, the fact that I can be in the same room on camera, even though it's not physical presence, changes it completely. Because I can still... He knows it's me on camera. I see it with him. He knows it's me even through camera today. And so that is one way to stay present. Another thing is, and I struggle with it. Because of technology, you're damned if you do, you're damned if you don't. That's technology. You're damned if you do, you're damned if you don't. Because I can do everything with the firm, just like I know you both can. I know you can. I can do my whole practice off my phone and laptop. I can do anything I need off a phone, laptop-
Mauro Fiore (35:02):
I can run my whole life off the phone.
Mitri Shatara (35:03):
I can. So that means it's never detached from me. So the hardest thing is-
Bob Simon (35:07):
It's hard.
Mitri Shatara (35:08):
Sometimes I just throw it on the couch in my office-
Bob Simon (35:11):
But it's hard.
Mitri Shatara (35:11):
... And I go downstairs.
Bob Simon (35:12):
When it's two minutes later it's like, shit. I feel like it's a missed opportunity.
Mitri Shatara (35:17):
And I know your wife knows it, because Ivana sees me do it. I walk in the door, whatever time I do it, I'm like, I have a call in an hour and a half, because I try to push it out. Or like this morning I worked from the house before I came here, and I was like, hey... She was like, "Hey, can you watch him for a second? I need to get ready real fast." Because I was at the house. I was like, "Sure. But I've got a call in 10 minutes. I can push it 15 minutes." So I can spend... I'm like, free opportunity-
Bob Simon (35:38):
It's increments.
Mitri Shatara (35:39):
... to spend some time. So you just have to do it where you can.
Mauro Fiore (35:42):
It's so funny, you know how they talk about now about AI. Five, 10 years ago, people say, AI is going to do this, do that. But it's been a little slower, I think to roll out. And then maybe AI isn't there yet, but in a few years it's going to be there, where it's going to-
Bob Simon (35:57):
AI can father your children.
Mauro Fiore (35:59):
Yeah. Eventually it's going to be there. I remember, as I'm sitting here today, I'm 49 years old. I'll be 50 in a month. When I was seven or eight years old, because I grew up 15 minutes from Disneyland. So we used to go to Disneyland with my mom, and dad. In Anaheim, California. My mom would take me to Disneyland. We'd go to Tomorrowland, which was the future. Always the future stuff. When I was eight years old. We'd go to Tomorrowland, and we would check out stuff, and they had this thing where, oh, in the future people are going to be able to make video phone calls. And I remember eight years old, nine years old, with my mom sitting in this booth in Tomorrowland where they had a FaceTime thing.
(36:44):
Where my other brother could be in the other room next door, and he'd be on the video, and me and my mom would be in the other room and we'd be talking to him.
Bob Simon (36:52):
That's awesome.
Mauro Fiore (36:53):
And my brother and my dad would be in the other room. This is 40 years ago. And my mom would be like, one day that's going to be... You're going to have a phone in your pocket and you're going to be able to talk to someone on the video. I was like, mom, you're crazy. This is Disneyland. This is bullshit.
Mitri Shatara (37:07):
That's [inaudible 00:37:09].
Mauro Fiore (37:08):
Exactly. It's weird, because I'm old enough to remember that shit. That was a big deal.
Bob Simon (37:15):
I'm excited for Disney on X-Men 87 or 97. The new show, they have... Whatever. It's going to be good.
(37:23):
But Mitri, we're ending the end of the episode here, my friend and-
Mauro Fiore (37:26):
Well, we didn't have this last one.
Bob Simon (37:28):
That was the first one we had.
Mitri Shatara (37:28):
That was the first one we had.
Mauro Fiore (37:30):
Oh, it is? We had three already?
Mitri Shatara (37:31):
Yeah.
Mauro Fiore (37:32):
I must be fucked up, man. Are you sure we had three.
Mitri Shatara (37:34):
You announced it five minutes in.
Bob Simon (37:35):
Yeah. You announced it... As you took that pour, you told-
Mauro Fiore (37:38):
Are you sure we had three already?
Bob Simon (37:39):
I am 100% sure. In fact, we have video evidence that you took that pour.
Mitri Shatara (37:43):
Yeah, you went on a whole police rant too. It was a solid.
Bob Simon (37:46):
You did. You went into an NWA rant.
Mauro Fiore (37:48):
I need to stop talking.
Mitri Shatara (37:49):
Yeah. That's the thing.
Bob Simon (37:51):
You now have a target on your back.
(37:53):
Mauro's the only-
Mitri Shatara (37:54):
LA Police is going to be looking for you.
Mauro Fiore (37:57):
Fuck the LAPD, I'll tell them right now.
Bob Simon (37:59):
He's the only friend of mine that got raided by the cops and shot one of his friends in his house. He's the only one.
Mauro Fiore (38:04):
Well yeah.
Bob Simon (38:06):
It's a true story.
Mauro Fiore (38:06):
It's a long story, but I have had a shooting at my house in Hollywood. Who hasn't had a shooting at their house in Hollywood?
Bob Simon (38:14):
A lot of people.
Mauro Fiore (38:14):
Fair.
Mitri Shatara (38:14):
In Hollywood. I don't know.
Bob Simon (38:18):
All right, Mitri, at the end of the episode here, we always ask you to pick your bourbon [inaudible 00:38:20]. We probably know where it's fucking headed. But we want to know why you picked this one, and tell us about it my friend.
Mitri Shatara (38:30):
It is a Orphan Barrel Rhetoric. It has stuck with me, for... Actually, so this is even... To take it deeper. So I'll take it a little deep for a second, because it's been a very fun, casual time here. Lots of fun stuff from across the group here.
Mauro Fiore (38:48):
I'm surprised Bob still keeps me as co-host. I can't believe he hasn't fired me.
Bob Simon (38:55):
If I ever ran for president, I could not have you as my vice president.
Mitri Shatara (38:59):
No, that's what you have to have as your vice president.
Bob Simon (38:59):
Oh my Lord.
Mitri Shatara (39:00):
I disagree. That would have to be your vice president. You could run for mayors, like LA. Or something.
Mauro Fiore (39:07):
I'd be a deputy mayor.
Mitri Shatara (39:08):
Deputy mayor. Boom. You'd be good. You'd be golden. LAPD'd be defunded, but you'd be fine.
Bob Simon (39:14):
Be fine man.
Mitri Shatara (39:16):
So what's funny about Orphan Barrel is, because it came out over the course of six to seven years, because it wasn't exactly a year. It's kind of been with me through this progression. So every time I could find another bottle, I'd get excited. I would always buy two, because one, I didn't want to open at the time.
Bob Simon (39:35):
And one you wanted to drink.
Mitri Shatara (39:35):
And one I wanted to drink. And then I would save it for different events. So I would save it for different milestones. So when I graduated college, I think. I went to law school, finished that, got married. It is been with me this whole time. The Rhetoric has. And I think it's one of the best damn best-tasting bourbons out there.
Bob Simon (39:51):
Wow.
Mitri Shatara (39:52):
Not just the 23, but across them. And they all are different, just slightly.
Bob Simon (39:55):
So Mitri, thank you for coming-
Mauro Fiore (39:57):
So you always buy two?
Mitri Shatara (39:58):
Always at least buy two.
Mauro Fiore (40:00):
I have a friend of mine, Jean, he always orders two entrees when we go to dinner. In case he doesn't like one, he'll eat the other one. I get it. Sometimes he likes both, he eats both of them.
Bob Simon (40:09):
And he won't pay free either.
Mauro Fiore (40:10):
This motherfucker. One thing you know about Jean is that, this guy, I've never seen his wallet. I don't think he owns one. He doesn't own one.
Mitri Shatara (40:18):
We all know a couple of those people.
Mauro Fiore (40:19):
Yeah.
Bob Simon (40:20):
Mitri, thank you for coming on this episode.
Mitri Shatara (40:21):
No, thank you all. Thanks for having me.
Bob Simon (40:22):
Thank you for inviting us into your home, in Birmingham, Alabama. We talked about-
Mauro Fiore (40:27):
And hold on a second. Alex, I'm going to have to double down on this. Alex said I was invited to the Alabama Auburn game.
Mitri Shatara (40:34):
Okay.
Bob Simon (40:35):
He didn't say this.
Mitri Shatara (40:35):
Double down.
Mauro Fiore (40:35):
Me and Bob, are going to come.
Mitri Shatara (40:35):
Oh please.
Mauro Fiore (40:38):
So I hope I'm not stuck at the fucking park-
Bob Simon (40:39):
It's called the iron...
Mauro Fiore (40:39):
Hope I'm not out in the fucking parking lot, and I'm in the fucking box.
Bob Simon (40:43):
So in Monopoly, as my family, I was always the iron.
Mauro Fiore (40:46):
Yeah. I don't want to be out in the parking lot, Mitri, don't fuck with me.
Mitri Shatara (40:49):
I won't stick you out in the parking lot.
Mauro Fiore (40:50):
I'm going to come here. I'm going to find you.
Mitri Shatara (40:51):
I'll give up my ticket for you.
Mauro Fiore (40:52):
I'm going to come-
Bob Simon (40:53):
No, you got to be there with this guy.
Mauro Fiore (40:54):
... and I'm going to come watch a game with you, and Alex.
Mitri Shatara (40:56):
I do. I would have to carry him out.
Mauro Fiore (40:57):
Yeah, that's for sure.
Mitri Shatara (40:58):
Will he fall asleep [inaudible 00:40:59]-
Bob Simon (40:59):
Now you know why you have that forklift, when you-
Mitri Shatara (41:01):
I did. I did. We did. I would not let them take the forklift from the new property. I was adamant about that.
Mauro Fiore (41:06):
I might sleep at halftime. But just for-
Mitri Shatara (41:08):
Just a little 15 minute nap.
Mauro Fiore (41:10):
Just [inaudible 00:41:10], just 20 wings.
Mitri Shatara (41:10):
Well thank you for having me. I appreciate it.
Bob Simon (41:12):
Thanks, man. I appreciate it.
Mitri Shatara (41:12):
I really appreciate you guys. Thank you all so much. This has been great.
