Ashley Peinhardt (00:00):
It just was not common to see female partners, for sure. There were a couple of managing partners, but in terms of equity partnership, in Alabama, I think it's very rare to have a female on the plaintiff's side that's an equity partner.
Bob Simon (00:13):
Isn't it? This firm's 120, 30 years old.
Ashley Peinhardt (00:16):
130 years old.
Bob Simon (00:17):
Wow.
Mauro Fiore (00:18):
And they never had a female associate?
Ashley Peinhardt (00:20):
Never. I was going to be the first female lawyer, and then 10 years after that I became the first female partner, which was the goal that I had in mind. What I stayed there for, what I fought for was to make sure that I could break that glass ceiling here, and make sure people could do that after.
Bob Simon (00:45):
Welcome to this episode of Bourbon of Proof, where we interview those in the legal space who have been successful at both law and life. We do so over a series of spirits, all brown, all for storytelling. Today we're very honored to have the wonderful Ashley Peinhardt on this episode.
Ashley Peinhardt (01:03):
Thank you so much for having me. We're so happy to have you guys in Birmingham.
Bob Simon (01:06):
Yes. We're filming live from the distillery here. I always forget our wonderful co-host, Mauro Fiore.
Mauro Fiore (01:14):
Hello, hello, hello.
Bob Simon (01:15):
Thank you for coming.
Mauro Fiore (01:16):
We're at the Dread River Distillery here in Birmingham, Alabama.
Ashley Peinhardt (01:20):
Downtown.
Bob Simon (01:21):
Downtown. So, we've got to start off with the port, and we selected something for you first. This is an Elijah Craig Single Barrel. This is a Barrel Select, and this is done by LeNell. She signed the bottle. So, she actually went to Elijah Craig, picked this barrel, has a privately... They do the private bottle stuff and this is a private barrel.
Mauro Fiore (01:49):
You need to explain who LeNell is though, Bob.
Bob Simon (01:51):
I want Ashley to explain who LeNell is, because we were there yesterday at their beautiful place.
Ashley Peinhardt (01:56):
So, she has the most wonderful store here in town, and she's got all of the good brown liquor, and honestly every kind. But she's just a legend here in town.
Bob Simon (02:09):
Yeah. So, she has a very nice... So, it's an ABC store here in Alabama, so you actually have to buy the alcohol from the state.
Ashley Peinhardt (02:16):
You do.
Bob Simon (02:17):
It's a very impressive place. So, to Ashley, to Birmingham. This is the Birmingham pour.
Mauro Fiore (02:24):
To Ashley and Birmingham.
Ashley Peinhardt (02:26):
Cheers.
Mauro Fiore (02:31):
That is beautiful.
Bob Simon (02:32):
This is very good. This is how you start your day off, Ashley.
Ashley Peinhardt (02:36):
There you go.
Bob Simon (02:37):
Yep.
Ashley Peinhardt (02:38):
Welcome to Birmingham.
Bob Simon (02:39):
So, now we're here in Birmingham Alabama, and you're known as, now we're 2024, as probably the most preeminent medical malpractice trial lawyer in the state. But a lot of people don't know how you got there. So, for those of us that do know is, you weren't always where you are today. Correct? You had to fight a long time.
Ashley Peinhardt (03:02):
Of course.
Bob Simon (03:03):
To become a partner at the firm you are. So, why don't you just walk us through Ashley's story, from why you went to law school in those early years.
Ashley Peinhardt (03:11):
Sure. I went to law school initially because I wanted to help women of domestic violence. I am a survivor, not a victim. I sometimes say victim and I want to say, no, it's a survivor. But I actually started working at the DA's office when I was my third year. Had a third year practice card, had a chance to try some cases there. Then I also clerked at the firm that I'm at now, Hare, Wynn, Newell and Newton. When I was graduating, there was a big hiring freeze, and I went back to my firm and said, "Hey, guys. What do you think? I really want to be here. I don't know if I need to go work somewhere else for a while and prove myself and come back. But this is where I ultimately want to be."
(03:50):
When I clerked there, I realized that I was working with some legends that I wanted to be there with them. They came back and they said, "Okay. We're going to give you a chance." When I first started, I was on a contract. I was going to be the first female lawyer. So, after that contract, I'd proven myself as a lawyer.
Bob Simon (04:06):
So, you're the first female lawyer. This firm's like 120, 30 years old.
Ashley Peinhardt (04:11):
130 years old.
Bob Simon (04:11):
Wow.
Mauro Fiore (04:12):
They never had a female associate?
Ashley Peinhardt (04:14):
Never.
Mauro Fiore (04:15):
Wow.
Ashley Peinhardt (04:16):
Yeah. So, first female lawyer to be an associate, and then to be on partnership track. Then 10 years after that, I became the first female partner, which was the goal that I had in mind. What I stayed there for, what I fought for was to make sure that I could break that glass ceiling here, and make sure people could do that after.
Mauro Fiore (04:34):
Now, is that common? Because I'm born and raised in Los Angeles, so Southern whole thing is really foreign to me. Is that common in the law firms out here, that the women are still behind the times? Because in LA I think every firm... I mean, there's more female lawyers in my office than anything else in my office. Most lawyers I know, most firms probably 70% female. So, in LA it's a lot different.
Bob Simon (04:59):
I think this is the first year where most of the attorneys in America are women.
Mauro Fiore (05:03):
Is that still common out here?
Ashley Peinhardt (05:04):
It is. I'm from Minnesota originally, lived in California for a few years, lived in Thousand Oaks and then lived in Florida for high school and college. All three of those places, it is not unusual to have female lawyers, more than 50%, female partners. But I moved down here to Birmingham, and it just was not common to see female partners for sure. There were a couple of managing partners, but in terms of equity partnership in Alabama, I think it's very rare to have a female on the plaintiff's side that's an equity partner. Now, defense side's another world, but on the plaintiff's side where you're trying cases a lot, it's very unusual.
Bob Simon (05:42):
Yeah. I assume here there's a lot of those legacy firms. A lot of, "My dad was a lawyer, my daddy's dad was a lawyer," and that's just the way that it is. I get that sense.
Mauro Fiore (05:52):
I mean, just from reading the news, like the Murdoch, that piece of shit Murdoch guy and his firm, he's been around like 200 years, but it was always his dad, his grandpa.
Bob Simon (06:03):
Oh, I didn't know that.
Mauro Fiore (06:03):
Yeah, it was all family.
Ashley Peinhardt (06:04):
Well, thankfully my firm was not that way. It was not a big nepotism issue. It was just I don't think they ever had women do it before, and they didn't know how that was going to work. I just decided because I'm sort of a guy's girl and I know how to hang with the guys and I know how to handle that, I'm like, if anyone's going to make it work, it's going to be me. I'm going to get in there and I'm going to teach them that, A, they can do it and B, they can make a lot more money once they allow someone in and show them that it can be done.
Bob Simon (06:32):
Do you channel a lot... I know you try a lot of cases, do you channel a lot of you being a survivor early on and do you push that through during trial? Is that a motivating force for you?
Ashley Peinhardt (06:43):
So, yeah. I do identify with my clients as being the underdogs and the person that the doctor didn't listen to, didn't take seriously, disregarded, took advantage of in many ways. The last trial where we got a $21 million verdict was a baby that was born with Hirschsprung's disease. That mother was trying so hard to go to the doctor, to go to the ER and say, "Something's wrong. My baby is not having bowel movements," over and over, and they just disregarded her. They were like, "It's okay, it's just constipation." They never listened to her. So, I really do take on my client in that way. When I got up to cross-examine the defendant, the first thing I said is, "Will you take me seriously, because you did not take my client. Will you take this court seriously? Will you take this process seriously? Do you think it's fair for you to be sitting here? Do you think it's fair for me as a woman to ask you questions about my client whose baby died, because you didn't listen to her?"
Bob Simon (07:44):
Do you think, I mean, so when you say defendant, is this the doctor or the hospital that you have at this point?
Ashley Peinhardt (07:50):
The doctor.
Bob Simon (07:51):
Wow. So, I mean, because Mauro and I, we don't... Do you do any medical malpractice?
Mauro Fiore (07:55):
No.
Bob Simon (07:55):
I don't do-
Mauro Fiore (07:57):
The laws in California were so draconian forever that nobody really wanted malpractice.
Bob Simon (08:03):
Because we have very weird limits on recovery in California.
Mauro Fiore (08:07):
There's no limits on anything in California except med mal.
Bob Simon (08:10):
But a lot of the really good trial lawyers, and I think we're starting to see these fee initiatives for people to cap the amount lawyers can earn for their clients. What ends up happening is the best lawyers don't end up representing victims, survivors and consumers. It happened in California with medical malpractice cases. I know by the time this airs, you guys will be facing an initiative here in Alabama.
Ashley Peinhardt (08:30):
We are. We're definitely under attack right now. Next week, on Tuesday, we've got some bills dropping that we need the people to know that their rights are being taken away in Montgomery all the time.
Mauro Fiore (08:42):
I mean, it's the insurance companies behind these laws that are trying to pass across the country, trying to make it seem like, "Oh, these plaintiff lawyers, they're greedy, they're making too much money. Let's limit how much they can make." When in reality the insurance companies are trying to make the plaintiffs... The consumers have less choice and the lawyers that are still going to do it for half the price are going to be less skilled, and it's going to make the insurance companies a lot more money. It's typical insurance company bullshit, but they spin it to where they trick the public.
Ashley Peinhardt (09:15):
Yeah. I think I spend such a big chunk of my practice just turning people down. I'm having to say to them, "It's a business decision. I can't take your case because we lose so many of these medical malpractice cases because it's so stacked against the patient." We have a higher burden of proof here in Alabama. We have to prove not only the preponderance of the evidence, but by a substantial evidence. We have to convince the unprejudiced thinking mind to the truth of the matter asserted.
Bob Simon (09:43):
Those are just words that just seem like...
Ashley Peinhardt (09:45):
Gobbledygook.
Bob Simon (09:49):
Yeah. Those sound like just a bunch of words.
Ashley Peinhardt (09:49):
I mean, we do a good job of saying, it's meaningless. But on the defense side, they go, "You have to be convinced." That is a trick that they use. I always stand up and say, "They're going to tell you, you have to be convinced. Let me tell you what it really means."
Bob Simon (10:02):
But you do that before they get up?
Ashley Peinhardt (10:04):
Yes. I do that in jury selection.
Bob Simon (10:06):
Oh, I love it. Well, I want to talk a little bit more about Ashley, the human being. I know you have a nine-year-old daughter. What's it like being a parent, being a mom and then also being a trial lawyer and a partner at a firm?
Ashley Peinhardt (10:25):
Yeah, I think being a mom makes my job much easier in a lot of ways, because my clients are mostly women. That's my target audience is women who've had a really bad birth injury, and they want another woman who's been through it, who's had a child, to do that. I think they feel more comfortable having a woman. But I would say it's difficult to balance it all. Thank goodness I have my parents in town that are retired and they can help. But in terms of traveling as much as I do, which is at least once a week for depositions, it's difficult. It's difficult to be there for your kid and then also be there for your firm and make sure you're balancing everything.
Bob Simon (11:03):
All right. We're going to get into our second quarter right now. So, we have a very, very special-
Mauro Fiore (11:13):
I picked this one out yesterday.
Bob Simon (11:14):
Mauro picked this yesterday. So, this is again, we got this from LeNell, right here in Birmingham, and they have this, it's called Stork House Rosé-Rye.
Ashley Peinhardt (11:24):
That's the one y'all were drinking on Instagram.
Bob Simon (11:26):
No, this was a different one.
Ashley Peinhardt (11:27):
Okay.
Bob Simon (11:27):
We pulled a different one. We've never had this one.
Mauro Fiore (11:29):
Never had this one.
Bob Simon (11:30):
So, this is, I mean, it's Rosé with rye whiskey.
Mauro Fiore (11:33):
Yeah. Rosé wine-
Ashley Peinhardt (11:34):
Never heard of it.
Mauro Fiore (11:34):
... and rye whiskey.
Bob Simon (11:35):
Never heard of it, never had it. But we picked this because it's Stork, and you do so much of representing babies', moms with birth injuries.
Ashley Peinhardt (11:44):
Perfect.
Bob Simon (11:45):
So, this one we thought was the perfect pour for Ashley Peinhardt.
Ashley Peinhardt (11:48):
I'm going to have to buy it.
Mauro Fiore (11:48):
Also, what girl doesn't like a little Rosé?
Ashley Peinhardt (11:50):
Hey, I love pink.
Bob Simon (11:51):
Rosé all day. I'm not a Rosé guy, so this is going to be very interesting.
Mauro Fiore (11:55):
I love Rosé.
Bob Simon (11:56):
Of course you would.
Mauro Fiore (11:57):
Yes. You've been with me in Europe where I ordered those big bottles.
Bob Simon (12:00):
He does. He drinks a whole magnum bottle of Rosé and then immediately falls asleep.
Ashley Peinhardt (12:04):
Well, if it's good weather, you have to drink Rosé.
Bob Simon (12:06):
It's so humid, he just falls asleep.
Mauro Fiore (12:07):
Oh, God. The last time we were in Spain, I was just sweating to the point where it was criminal.
Bob Simon (12:13):
So, I'm going to drop into this episode, a few videos and photos of you sleeping with-
Ashley Peinhardt (12:17):
And on the way here.
Bob Simon (12:19):
And on the way here. He slept a lot on the way here. Okay. I'm interested in this, because this is pink. We've never had a pink drink.
Ashley Peinhardt (12:24):
Hey, thank you.
Bob Simon (12:25):
This has an interesting smell too.
Ashley Peinhardt (12:26):
Cheers.
Bob Simon (12:36):
What are you doing? [inaudible 00:12:28]. That's fantastic.
Mauro Fiore (12:36):
It's kind of like a little bit-
Ashley Peinhardt (12:37):
I love it.
Bob Simon (12:37):
Wow.
Mauro Fiore (12:37):
It's like a little bit like a vermouth.
Ashley Peinhardt (12:40):
It's dangerous.
Mauro Fiore (12:41):
Right?
Bob Simon (12:41):
Yes.
Mauro Fiore (12:42):
Like Vermouth.
Bob Simon (12:42):
It's going to sneak up on you really fast.
Mauro Fiore (12:44):
Oh, yeah. I could drink that whole bottle easy.
Bob Simon (12:46):
Oh, God.
Ashley Peinhardt (12:46):
Yeah, this is delicious.
Mauro Fiore (12:47):
And it's not real sweet. It still has some balance.
Bob Simon (12:53):
I feel like we just had a big discovery on the show, Mauro.
Mauro Fiore (12:55):
That's amazing.
Ashley Peinhardt (12:56):
Yeah, that's coming home with me.
Mauro Fiore (12:57):
Stork House.
Bob Simon (12:58):
It is actually.
Mauro Fiore (13:01):
Where do they make this?
Ashley Peinhardt (13:02):
Where's it from?
Mauro Fiore (13:03):
It's from California.
Ashley Peinhardt (13:05):
Go figure. All the good stuff.
Mauro Fiore (13:08):
"Fruity and tart blend made from German Rosé and American Rye."
Bob Simon (13:13):
German's have Rosé?
Ashley Peinhardt (13:16):
This is delicious.
Bob Simon (13:18):
Yeah, this is. We could drink that whole bottle and do a different show.
Mauro Fiore (13:21):
Oh, no. Wait a second. It says-
Bob Simon (13:21):
Is it wrong?
Mauro Fiore (13:23):
... "Distilled and bottled in Germany." Imported by a company in California. So, it's from Germany.
Ashley Peinhardt (13:31):
Very nice.
Bob Simon (13:33):
So, we picked this one for your journey of helping survivors of medical malpractice, a lot of moms, babies and stuff like that. So, how did you become so passionate about doing this area of work? Because this is a heavy burden to wear.
Ashley Peinhardt (13:46):
It is.
Bob Simon (13:48):
Because I do a lot of sex abuse cases and it's hard. Why do you do it?
Ashley Peinhardt (13:52):
So, I first got into it from the partners that I was working with. They're really great at this type of work. We have paralegals who've been at our firm for 30 years, and those women have these pictures up in their offices of all of the children that we've represented. I remember being a law student seeing that going, "Wow, they really care. This is something that... You're changing lives. You're giving children an opportunity to live not only to 30, but hopefully to 50 and 60, when they have CP and they're not walking, talking, eating, all of those things." So, the firm was already passionate about it, and the women at the firm were passionate about it. I saw that love for the client and the way that you can connect with these clients and they become family. So, when I first got into this work and we were able to have a really good recovery for the first child I worked with, those children stay with you forever. Christmas cards, you follow those children for the rest of their lives, and you know that you've given them an opportunity to have a good life.
Bob Simon (14:55):
Yeah. You've had the $21 million verdict, $15 million verdict, probably a lot of seven, eight figure settlements because those are sometimes confidential. But before that, even when you were back that first year under contract, when you were potentially the first female associate ever at an 130 year old firm, what are some of the things that you did? I know that you changed some laws, you were able to establish things, but what did you do in that first year to establish that, "Hey, I'm here to stay?"
Ashley Peinhardt (15:22):
I think, for me, let's go back to when I was clerking even. You only have six weeks as a clerk. I always tell our clerks to do this. "Don't just sit in your clerk office. Get out and meet everybody at the firm, find out what they're working on and find out what you can do. Because no one really cares about your work product. They want to know if you fit."
Bob Simon (15:40):
Yes, that's true.
Ashley Peinhardt (15:41):
"I mean, you're going to make me a memo? Great. But if you don't feel like a fit here, that you're passionate about being here, and I can see myself working with you in the future, that's all I need to know in six weeks."
Bob Simon (15:54):
Yeah. "Because there's not a lot of time and lawyers get so busy, they're not reviewing work product. They're reviewing you. So, meet as many of the lawyers and partners that you can and stand out."
Ashley Peinhardt (16:00):
Yes. "Do not be someone that I go, 'Is that person a clerk?'"
Bob Simon (16:04):
"Who was that person?"
Ashley Peinhardt (16:05):
But think about it. I can remember maybe one every two years that really stood out, and it's because they got involved and they cared about me and asked me about me and my practice, and wanted to go to depots, wanted to get involved.
Mauro Fiore (16:18):
Yeah. That's interesting. That's the same way I evaluate lawyers when I hire a lawyer at my office. I talk to them, I interview them to see how they fit, how they would fit with the rest of the firm. I don't even care really where they went to law school and all these things.
Ashley Peinhardt (16:33):
We can teach all that.
Mauro Fiore (16:34):
None of that stuff really matters to me. They got a license and I can work with them, I can train them. They fit in. I give them a shot. They went to Harvard. "I went to some matchbox law school." "Who cares?" Doesn't matter to me at all.
Ashley Peinhardt (16:47):
I think the best compliment I got during that time that I was there for that contract was that I have moxie. I think that is what I would tell, and I tell my law students, "Have moxie. Be so passionate about it that it just radiates out of you that you want this more than anyone else and you'll work harder."
Bob Simon (17:06):
Wow. You practice in other states there too? Because your firm's huge.
Ashley Peinhardt (17:09):
So, we did have offices in Kentucky, in Arkansas, but now we're just Alabama. We went there for certain cases. We had the big corn case where genetically modified corn... We had a rice case, genetically modified rice. So, we do about 50% mass torts class action, and then 50% med mal.
Bob Simon (17:27):
Do you do any mass torts?
Mauro Fiore (17:28):
No, I've never gotten into it.
Ashley Peinhardt (17:30):
I don't personally do it, but it's a good balance.
Mauro Fiore (17:32):
I stick to single event.
Bob Simon (17:35):
I like representing the individual people for individual problems.
Ashley Peinhardt (17:39):
So, when I was down in Miami for a conference, I won't name the name, but one of the people putting on said conference came up to me and my partner and said, "Y'all must not like making money because you're not doing mass torts."
Bob Simon (17:52):
Oh, God.
Mauro Fiore (17:52):
There's such snake oil salesman, these people at the mass torts business.
Ashley Peinhardt (17:57):
Y'all know who I'm probably talking about. But we're sitting there going, "We make fine money, but we also love having that relationship with the client. It's special to me. It's what I want to do."
Bob Simon (18:09):
It's so weird whenever you have like, "Oh, I have 10,000 assets in this mass tort, and I'm going to try to sell them over here." It's like, what?
Ashley Peinhardt (18:17):
It's not the profession anymore, right? It's a business.
Bob Simon (18:20):
That's so true.
Mauro Fiore (18:21):
I don't know if I ever told you this story. When I was a baby lawyer, I had an uncle, he was involved in one of these product defect, a medical product, and he was notified that he had a case. So, he came to see me and I was only like a three-four or lower, I didn't know much. But-
Bob Simon (18:41):
You still don't.
Mauro Fiore (18:42):
I don't know anything now after 25 years. But after three, I didn't know shit. But I joined up to the MDL.
Bob Simon (18:49):
The Multi-District-
Mauro Fiore (18:51):
Litigation. It was in Cleveland, Ohio was where it was based at. They sent me a letter and they're like, "Well, we're having a meeting, a counsel," or whatever. I was like, well, I'm going to go. Why not? I had one client and I went. I mean, what do I know? I don't know shit. I go down there, the first time I'd ever met the mass tort... The mass tort sleazeballs, I call them. Just all these guys. They're talking about, "Oh, I got 40,000 hip cases. I got 20,000..." It's like they're trading rugs. It was crazy to me. They were like, "How many cases have you got?" I was like, "Oh, we're working on our portfolio." I wasn't going to say, "Oh, I got one shitty case." But, yeah. It's a totally different business. They're like commodities traders-
Ashley Peinhardt (19:37):
It is.
Mauro Fiore (19:38):
... the lawyers who do it. The people mean nothing to them.
Bob Simon (19:41):
So, what happened?
Mauro Fiore (19:42):
Oh, it was crazy.
Ashley Peinhardt (19:45):
Did anyone speak to you?
Mauro Fiore (19:46):
So, the reason for the meeting was, is that they were arguing with the guy in Cleveland who did all the work, and how much he was going to get from each case. So, the meeting was to see what they got.
Ashley Peinhardt (20:00):
A fee argument.
Mauro Fiore (20:00):
So, that was the whole thing. They didn't want to give him shit, this guy wanted 12%, 8%. So, it went on all day and finally they gave him like 10%. Long story short, they sent me a check... The one thing about these things, sometimes it can be good, right?
Ashley Peinhardt (20:11):
Right.
Mauro Fiore (20:12):
They sent me a package, like a checklist package. I just checked it off. I said, "Uncle Cary, here. Sign this." We send it in, and hand to God as my friend, Gene Sullivan says, nine months later they sent me a check to my office for $2 million.
Bob Simon (20:26):
What?
Mauro Fiore (20:26):
Yeah. $2 million. I called Uncle Cary. I said, "We got a check for $2 million." But he had his kidney, he lost a kidney. It was a serious thing.
Ashley Peinhardt (20:36):
Okay. So serious injury.
Mauro Fiore (20:36):
He was on the top tier of-
Bob Simon (20:38):
Some of those other lawyers who are selling like commodities, probably got like 20 grand for their client.
Ashley Peinhardt (20:43):
Or 2,000.
Mauro Fiore (20:43):
Well, this guy, he lost a kidney. Uncle Cary. So, I remember I called Uncle Cary and said, "We got $2 million." He goes, "Do I get any of it?"
Ashley Peinhardt (20:53):
Maybe. We will talk about it.
Mauro Fiore (20:53):
I was like, "Sure. Yeah, uncle Cary, you do as a matter of fact." He didn't even know if he got any. Me and him were both clueless. But, yeah. He had a kidney, lost a kidney, was in the top tier, and we were in the first batch of money that came out and whatever. He qualified for $1.9 million.
Ashley Peinhardt (21:11):
Amazing.
Mauro Fiore (21:12):
Only one I ever did.
Bob Simon (21:13):
Did you really just harvest his kidney and set him up? Was this a fraud case?
Mauro Fiore (21:17):
No.
Bob Simon (21:18):
He woke up in an ice tub?
Mauro Fiore (21:20):
You know what it was? He needed to get a colonoscopy. So, the night before, whatever they give you, this thing that just makes you just shit your brains out. I guess the one that they gave him had been recalled because it was too strong and it literally made you like... He shit his kidney out even, almost killed him.
Bob Simon (21:39):
Wow.
Mauro Fiore (21:39):
Yeah. It was...
Ashley Peinhardt (21:41):
Sounds like he deserved that $1.9.
Mauro Fiore (21:42):
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, it was a recall. It was a disaster. I mean, poor guy. But it was nice.
Bob Simon (21:49):
Well, let's go to the last pour, Mauro. So, what did you select and why?
Mauro Fiore (21:52):
This is called Hven, and this is a-
Bob Simon (22:02):
Hven. H-V-E-N.
Mauro Fiore (22:06):
Hven. This is a-
Ashley Peinhardt (22:06):
It's a very cute bottle.
Mauro Fiore (22:07):
... single malt whiskey made in an island called Ven, in between Denmark and Sweden. This is Swedish because you have a Nordic look to you.
Ashley Peinhardt (22:15):
I get that a lot.
Mauro Fiore (22:15):
This is a Swedish single malt. It's called Tycho's Star. Bob did a little research on Tycho. Tell us who Tycho is.
Bob Simon (22:23):
So, Tycho was a famous astrologer there, and he actually had an iron nose called an iron nose. He had a fake-
Mauro Fiore (22:29):
An iron nose?
Bob Simon (22:30):
Yeah.
Mauro Fiore (22:30):
Oh, wow. I know some guys in LA with iron noses.
Bob Simon (22:36):
But we picked this because he was head in the stars, and we feel like, Ashley, you are the person that never took no for an answer, looked up to the stars until you achieved it. Feet on the ground. So, to the famous astrologer, Tygar is his name?
Ashley Peinhardt (22:59):
Tycho.
Bob Simon (23:00):
The Swedish astrologer. This is to Tycho.
Ashley Peinhardt (23:03):
I wanted to be an astronaut before a lawyer so it fits.
Bob Simon (23:05):
See? Kind of knew that, not. But there we go.
Ashley Peinhardt (23:10):
Oh, that's smooth.
Bob Simon (23:11):
Much different taste than everything we've had.
Mauro Fiore (23:12):
This is like an Islay single malt scotch. It's a scotch.
Ashley Peinhardt (23:18):
It's very good.
Mauro Fiore (23:19):
A single malt whiskey. This is definitely different. Totally different than bourbon, if you can tell.
Bob Simon (23:23):
Yeah. It's good. You wanted to be an astronaut?
Ashley Peinhardt (23:26):
I did. That was my plan. I actually went to University of Florida for two years and did aerospace engineering, and then decided, if I'm not going to be an astronaut actually going into space, then that's not what I want to do.
Bob Simon (23:37):
Really?
Ashley Peinhardt (23:37):
Yeah. Changed everything. Changed my major. Went over to psychology and business, and just started from scratch.
Bob Simon (23:45):
Wow. You know what's funny is lawyers, we use psychology every day. We always see these lawyers that, "Well, you're a history major, you're a poly side major of criminal justice. You should go do psychology."
Ashley Peinhardt (23:55):
That was the most beneficial thing I could have done.
Bob Simon (23:57):
Yeah.
Mauro Fiore (23:58):
Mine was golf resort management.
Bob Simon (23:59):
That's actually not a joke. He has his AA in golf resort management.
Ashley Peinhardt (24:03):
Well, we did talk last night about how much you love golf, so I guess you still use it.
Mauro Fiore (24:06):
Yes. It was part of the hospitality school at my college and golf resort.
Ashley Peinhardt (24:13):
Nice. Did you get to do golf during this?
Mauro Fiore (24:15):
I did golf quite a bit.
Bob Simon (24:17):
Did you ever drive, did you ever be on the driving range driving the cart?
Mauro Fiore (24:20):
You know what sucks about that is that I was the driving range ball picker for a time at a driving range. If you get caught in the mud or you've got to do anything, as soon as you get out of that thing everyone starts shooting balls at you on purpose.
Bob Simon (24:33):
Of course.
Mauro Fiore (24:34):
It's just like... It's crazy.
Ashley Peinhardt (24:36):
I kind of want to do that with you now.
Mauro Fiore (24:38):
10 seconds I was-
Bob Simon (24:38):
There's a Top Golf right over by UAV.
Ashley Peinhardt (24:40):
We could do that.
Mauro Fiore (24:40):
People would try to hit me, but luckily most people are so shitty they couldn't hit the side of a barn, so they could never hit me. But they tried.
Ashley Peinhardt (24:46):
We could sell tickets to this.
Bob Simon (24:48):
We should do this at [inaudible 00:24:49]. We should hit... We can do it on a driving range.
Ashley Peinhardt (24:55):
Oh, my gosh. You should put him in a cart.
Bob Simon (24:55):
Tomorrow-
Mauro Fiore (24:55):
I could wear a helmet and a cup, and they could try to hit me.
Ashley Peinhardt (25:00):
There you go.
Bob Simon (25:00):
No shirt though. We want to see the hair-
Mauro Fiore (25:02):
Well, I don't mind going shirtless.
Bob Simon (25:03):
Okay.
Ashley Peinhardt (25:04):
Might hurt though.
Bob Simon (25:07):
Yeah. So, how did you get to Birmingham?
Ashley Peinhardt (25:09):
So, Minnesota, California, Florida. My dad moved here to work for a bank and I wanted to come and stay at home while I went to law school and live at home. Went to Cumberland, and then the goal was not to stay here. The goal was to go here for law school. But I ended up falling in love with the trial team at Cumberland, and got my opportunity to work at Hare, Wynn, because I was on the trial team. I met one of the partners because I was the director of a certain trial competition and it was his dad's name. Then I also did a bunch of advocacy competitions and they heard about me through that. Now I teach there.
Bob Simon (25:47):
Professor.
Ashley Peinhardt (25:47):
Yeah. I went back and paid it forward and now I teach trial out there, and trying to make sure that those kids know that it doesn't take a certain personality to be a plaintiff's lawyer. You just need to be yourself.
Bob Simon (26:02):
It's your personality.
Ashley Peinhardt (26:02):
Exactly.
Bob Simon (26:02):
Oh, that's awesome. But you teach it probably the right way.
Ashley Peinhardt (26:05):
I do, I think.
Bob Simon (26:06):
No, because I've been through trials. We had two trial that had, when I was in law school, one was like... The professor in-house and one was the adjunct that was a real trial lawyer.
Ashley Peinhardt (26:17):
That's the difference.
Bob Simon (26:18):
That's the difference. I was like adjunct real trial lawyer and that was real stuff.
Ashley Peinhardt (26:23):
Yeah. Not theory.
Bob Simon (26:24):
Not theory.
Ashley Peinhardt (26:25):
Yeah. I tell them all the time, "Okay. Do this for the competition." But then in real life no one cares.
Bob Simon (26:30):
No one cares about this.
Ashley Peinhardt (26:33):
No one cares.
Bob Simon (26:33):
Wow. That's good.
Mauro Fiore (26:34):
Well, I mean, I can see where you would stay here. I mean, I haven't spent a lot of time in Birmingham, but-
Bob Simon (26:38):
It's awesome.
Mauro Fiore (26:38):
... it is a beautiful city.
Ashley Peinhardt (26:40):
It is.
Mauro Fiore (26:40):
It's not real huge, but it's not real small. There seems to be no traffic, which-
Ashley Peinhardt (26:45):
We have awesome schools here.
Mauro Fiore (26:46):
... is pretty amazing.
Ashley Peinhardt (26:47):
I mean, raising my daughter here, it's an amazing place to raise a kid. We're really essentially located to going to Atlanta, going to Nashville, going to the beach. We've got lakes around. So, it is. It's a great place to live, great place to raise a kid. But I think eventually I'll end up going back to the water.
Bob Simon (27:05):
Yeah. You're like Moana.
Ashley Peinhardt (27:06):
Yeah, I'm called.
Bob Simon (27:09):
It's calling to you. Yeah. Your daughter's nine, my oldest is seven, so we probably watch a lot of the same movies.
Ashley Peinhardt (27:18):
Yes, we do.
Bob Simon (27:18):
Six and four now.
Mauro Fiore (27:18):
Five and four.
Bob Simon (27:18):
Five and four.
Mauro Fiore (27:18):
Yeah, I'm kind of in the Bluey/Paw Patrol phase.
Ashley Peinhardt (27:23):
Well, that's a good phase. It's fun. But now we're Dance Dad and Dance Moms.
Mauro Fiore (27:25):
Dance Mom, Dance Dad.
Ashley Peinhardt (27:26):
It's a lot.
Mauro Fiore (27:27):
They do play T-ball.
Bob Simon (27:28):
He's coaching T-ball.
Mauro Fiore (27:29):
I'm a T-ball coach. Yes.
Ashley Peinhardt (27:30):
Are you good?
Mauro Fiore (27:31):
Well, they don't really listen to me, but they're four and five, the kids on the T-ball.
Bob Simon (27:36):
Mauro and I used to play the same [inaudible 00:27:37] baseball team.
Ashley Peinhardt (27:38):
What age?
Bob Simon (27:39):
This was years ago. I was 25 and up Wood Bat League.
Mauro Fiore (27:43):
Yeah, we played in a real league too, where they threw hard.
Ashley Peinhardt (27:49):
Did you win?
Bob Simon (27:50):
We were good. The only time we ever won one was 2010. We were always the bridesmaid though. We lost in the championship like five years in a row.
Ashley Peinhardt (27:57):
That means you're doing good.
Bob Simon (27:57):
Well, these guys are ex-pros and Mauro... We have some funny stories about Mauro, but there's this one pitcher who was one of the best pitchers in the league, but he couldn't get Mauro out and it was so frustrating.
Mauro Fiore (28:08):
He was a lefty too.
Bob Simon (28:09):
Lefty.
Mauro Fiore (28:10):
He threw really hard and he had breaking balls and everything. But for whatever reason, I used to tell Bob, "I don't know what it is. When I stand in the box with this guy, I just see the ball."
Bob Simon (28:17):
You were like seeing beach balls, but-
Mauro Fiore (28:18):
Just like seeing beach balls. I would just smash this guy.
Bob Simon (28:21):
He would take two swings and swing so hard he would spin in a circle like the Tasmanian Devil and fall, and on the third one he would just hit a rocket over the shortstop's head.
Ashley Peinhardt (28:28):
Well, he just has that kind of luck, I think.
Mauro Fiore (28:31):
Yeah. That guy could never get me out.
Bob Simon (28:33):
He's actually-
Mauro Fiore (28:35):
Like a neuroscientist or something. Yeah, I remember you told me.
Bob Simon (28:37):
Weird, because I looked him up later because he was like... You always see who you want to play with. But there was one guy that was a porn star in that league, remember?
Ashley Peinhardt (28:43):
Oh, wow.
Mauro Fiore (28:44):
Yeah. He had a catchphrase that he used to say. We can't use it on the show.
Bob Simon (28:47):
Cannot use it on the show.
Ashley Peinhardt (28:48):
Tell me later.
Mauro Fiore (28:51):
He had a catchphrase. He was a famous porn star. Jose Canseko used to play in our league.
Bob Simon (28:54):
Yeah. Him and his brother Oz got kicked out of the league and then Jose left with him. He beat up the umpire, maybe his girlfriend. It was a very bad situation.
Mauro Fiore (29:03):
That league was crazy. That was in Redondo Beach or something, down at the beach in LA. The beach in LA has got a lot of... Weird people gravitate to the beaches in LA.
Bob Simon (29:13):
Yeah. Come on. The best people.
Mauro Fiore (29:14):
You know what I always say? If you go to any beach city in LA, half the people are from Iowa or Ohio or Pittsburgh.
Ashley Peinhardt (29:22):
Did they move there or they're just visiting?
Mauro Fiore (29:24):
They all moved there.
Ashley Peinhardt (29:24):
Okay.
Bob Simon (29:25):
Just want to be by the beach.
Mauro Fiore (29:27):
My theory is, all these people from Ohio, Pennsylvania, Iowa, they must've grown up watching Baywatch or something, and their whole life they just thought, "I want to move to LA and live on the fucking beach," because it's amazing. It's like 50% Midwesterners living at the beach in LA.
Ashley Peinhardt (29:42):
We moved from Minnesota there. My mom and dad moved out there and then they realized the traffic was so bad they moved back. But, yeah. That was the whole thing. They grew up-
Mauro Fiore (29:51):
Did you grow up watching David the Hoff?
Bob Simon (29:52):
Of course I did.
Ashley Peinhardt (29:52):
Of course.
Mauro Fiore (29:53):
So you were a Hoff fan. That's why you-
Bob Simon (29:56):
I was a fan of some other people on the show.
Ashley Peinhardt (29:57):
Yeah.
Bob Simon (29:58):
Hoff happened to be on the show. That's why I went to law school in Malibu. It was kind of like that.
Mauro Fiore (30:03):
He went to Pepperdine in Malibu.
Ashley Peinhardt (30:05):
But you're from Pittsburgh and you grew up thinking that that's the Mecca.
Bob Simon (30:08):
First plane ride I go out, California. I go to Malibu. I'm like, "Yep. I'm going to go over here."
Ashley Peinhardt (30:13):
Staying.
Bob Simon (30:14):
I'm going to stay here with the whole family out, stuff like this. So, we're at the end of the show here, Ashley, and first of all, very honored to have you on as our guest. You're actually the first guest today in Birmingham. At the end of the show, we always do something where we want you to pick your bourbon of proof. Which one of these spirits spoke to you and why? You can pick anything you like. Now it's up to you.
Ashley Peinhardt (30:33):
I think y'all know, I'm going to be leaning towards that Rosé.
Bob Simon (30:36):
This is the Stork.
Ashley Peinhardt (30:37):
It was so different and great. I'm not a big bourbon drinker, so this one I will definitely drink again.
Bob Simon (30:44):
This one will definitely sneak up on you.
Ashley Peinhardt (30:46):
Yeah. It's dangerous, but it's good.
Bob Simon (30:47):
Yeah. So, if you want to drink this one, for those of you that are listening or watching, you want to start before 9:00 AM, and carry all the way to 5:00 PM. This is a good nine-to-five drinker.
Mauro Fiore (30:56):
Yeah.
Ashley Peinhardt (30:56):
It's a day drinker.
Bob Simon (30:57):
It's a day drinker.
Mauro Fiore (30:58):
That's my preferred hours. Nine-to-five. Anytime after five I can go to sleep and I'll be fine.
Bob Simon (31:04):
Yes, we know. And in between.
Ashley Peinhardt (31:06):
I was going to say, all day.
Mauro Fiore (31:08):
Yeah. Well, I mean, yeah. But after five I don't feel bad about going to bed.
Bob Simon (31:12):
That's true.
Mauro Fiore (31:13):
I had a guy call me, text me the other night, whatever he needed to talk to me or whatever. So, I texted him back at four in the morning. I was like, "Okay, I'm up now. I'm up now. You want to talk now?" Because he needed to talk to me at like 8:15. I was already asleep.
Ashley Peinhardt (31:27):
What's your bedtime?
Mauro Fiore (31:28):
Eight o'clock.
Bob Simon (31:29):
About the same.
Ashley Peinhardt (31:29):
Kids.
Bob Simon (31:29):
Kids.
Mauro Fiore (31:29):
Eight o'clock.
Bob Simon (31:32):
I get so exhausted-
Ashley Peinhardt (31:33):
Just go to sleep when they're going to sleep.
Mauro Fiore (31:35):
I go to bed at eight, I wake up at four. Those are my hours.
Bob Simon (31:37):
Love it. Well, Ashley, thank you for coming on this episode of Bourbon of Proof.
Ashley Peinhardt (31:40):
Thank you for having me.
Bob Simon (31:40):
It's been an absolute honor. We love learning more about you. Last night we spent a lot of time together and you're a force to be reckoned with, but more importantly you are a mentor to many.
Ashley Peinhardt (31:53):
Thank you so much for having me. Thanks for being in Birmingham, guys.
Bob Simon (31:54):
Thanks Ashley.
Mauro Fiore (31:57):
Thank you for having us.
