Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Our busy Friday morning continues here on news radio eight
forty w h A S Coffee and Company with you,
and we are field by Thornton's. We've got LMPD spokesman
Dwight Mitchell with us here in studio. He joins us
each and every week. You know, uh, you know who
it is, all right. So I want to start with, uh,
with something we were just chatting about off the air,
because somebody had brought this up to me a while
back and I forgot to ask you, and uh it
(00:21):
takes me back to uh, a memory that I think
I'm gonna remember for a long time. But that is
I guess we'll just start here. There are l MPD
officers that are that are horses technically, right, Like that's
a real thing, right, yes, And I'm sure people listening
they have seen where there's a law enforcement officer that
is out and about in certain areas and they are
they're on a horse. And I knew of that, hadn't
(00:42):
thought about it. But these these aren't just I mean pets.
These they're they're trained, they they're they're part of the team.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Right absolutely, They're just like our canines. Uh.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
But they're horses, and we have sworn officers who who
are the writers of those and take care of them,
and they have a special passion for that. And you know,
horses can go where cars can't, and no doubt so, yes,
it's one of our proud units that we do have.
We've had them for many, many years and I hope
we have them for many years to come.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
And kids love them.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Oh absolutely, that was what That's what got me to
think about it. Because my son he loves he's he's
going to be a cop for Halloween. He loves firefighters
and cops. He those are his heroes. And I wish
I could claim it's because I really instill that in him.
I didn't go to my way to do it. It's
just something he's picked up on, which is really cool.
And a lot of kids, I think, do that at
a young age for sure, especially whenever they do have interactions.
(01:35):
And when a Copple kneel down and shake his hand,
he thinks it's the coolest thing ever. But he was
at Churchill Downs. He also loves horse racing, and his
two worlds collided and he was the best of both
worlds for him. Wait a second, cops can ride horses.
This is this is so cool, right, and I hadn't
really thought much about it. But it's not just that
like you're not going to Churchill Downs and borrowing these
horses for the job. I mean they're they're trained and
(01:58):
there are officers that again are trained to to be
those that that that that you know obviously depend upon
those when when they're on patrol, right, And I mean,
I'm just thinking of of the connection you would make.
I mean, it's kind of like your partner, right.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Oh, it is, and it's a great public relations tool.
And one of the things is just said, you know,
your son's addressed up to be an officer for for Halloween.
But you know, that was the thing a lot of
times that a lot of kids, of course, I think
guys wanted to be fireman and police officers. And even
though you know it's changed a little bit, it's still
(02:31):
something that because for some kids, that's your first superhero.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Absolutely, and that's and that's exactly what it is, because
it's it's it's actually it's awesome to see that the
you know, the human element, one that is pure and
still young. Is it makes total sense that naturally, when
you realize Okay, who's here. Here's somebody who's saving somebody, right,
So you know, now he has access to YouTube, so
he he's you know, the kids YouTube, but he he's
(02:57):
you know, he watches all kinds of stuff that is
specifically for Like he just watches that stuff all day, right,
and it makes littal sense because he realizes he's got
other heroes too, Like you think Isaac Brown's the best
football player they ever played, But Isaac Brown's not saving lives.
Speaker 4 (03:10):
You know what I mean?
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Right there you go, it might be saving his on Saturday.
Speaker 4 (03:14):
Yes, absolutely, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
So when it comes to just I guess the process
of and this may not be something you've ever been
directly involved in, but as far as determining which horses
and even which canines are going to be with you
know that are going to be utilized and essentially join
the force. I mean, I'm sure there's a lot that
goes into that.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
Well, yes, and it's a great expense because you're trying
to get the best of the best of those particular animals.
When you deal my note with canine in particular, you
know thousands of dollars are paid for those those canines
to come in our unit, and there's certain breeds for
certain type of elements that we're using them in law enforcement.
(03:52):
And uh, you know, the officers that have them take
excellent care of them as you know, as a human
as they can, and they've become part of their families
as well. And many officers when they retire take the
dogs with them.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Really, yes, that's awesome, has that type of bond.
Speaker 4 (04:09):
It makes total sense and that's the way it should be.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Nobody else can really handle them but them, And so
we put that kind of investment in. And again, they're
valuable tools for us. And it's another two of our
two belt. It's our utility.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
Bet well, it's another beautiful element to what LMPD and
law enforcement in general does. I'm sure there's other departments,
other forces across the country that have a similar situation
to where they rely on the canine and horses and whatnot.
And again, just each time we have these conversations each week,
there's things that come up that I know I'm not alone.
I don't know how many of us are out there,
but just things you don't typically think about that give
(04:41):
you a bitter, give you a bigger and more broad
picture of what l and PD is overall, and also
you guys have some sluggers. I saw yesterday or maybe
it was two days ago, folks from l ANDPD and
folks from the Loisal Fire Department out at Jim Patterson Stadium.
I thought it might have been a game, but it's
just you're out there just having fun, right, No competition.
Speaker 4 (05:00):
At that time, but there's been some there's been.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Some battles between Louisville Fire Department and the Lotiver Metro
Police Department when it comes to basketball. And why don't
they do that anymore? Let's bring about it.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
Well, yeah, and it could be, but a lot of
people older, and that's true, change, you know, and things
of that nature. But it used to be highly competitive,
I guarantee it. We used to do it in September
around nine eleven after that happened, and we had an
annual game to gap a lot of publicity and had
great crowds.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
I believe, I remember that. I believe Denny Crumb was
at one point involved in helping promote that.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Yes, yes, in fact, he was a coach when Honore coach.
He did it and it was a great thing. And
then on the police part, we had some former Louisville
players that were officers that were on Charles Jones.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Coach, of course, he and his brother.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
I bet both LNPD and the lois Fire Department among
the many men and women that serve, I'm sure a
lot of them, even those that didn't necessarily play at
a high high level.
Speaker 4 (05:58):
I bet they've got some good athlete.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Oh absolutely.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
In fact, we've got a couple of former NFL players
that are officers that are on the police department and
all offices. Many of them have professions before they became
officers that are highly trained to do other things, and
they end up doing that when when they leave the department,
whether it's retirement on whether they choose to go onto
the path.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
And that's what's unique about it.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
We have very qualified of men and women on a
police department that can do many things and a lot
of smart people around.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Now. Is that a because I feel like that would
be if you are a college athlete, and at that point,
if you're playing high level, it's probably consumed a lot
of your life. Right, It's been a job for you.
It's been something you've put so much time into and
once that's over, and that is a difficult time that
a lot of people don't realize is once college is
over and you know you're not going pro in sports,
(06:49):
kind of reinventing yourself has to happen for some of
these guys, which it does seem like there's a lot
more awareness of that, and then there's programs, but I
can see many athletes saying, hey, that seems like something
I could really really want to get into.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
Right, because it's another team, right, and that's what you know.
Teamwork makes the dream work, and that's what we do
on the police farmerly working now.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
I bet what I missed the most about sports, even
twenty years after I've played sports competitively, is the camaraderie.
And there's nothing that can maybe give you that quite
like what you will have right.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Yes, you know, and many officers are very close. The
families are close with each other because you know, you
didn't know family was all you needed until that's all
you have. It's right, and a lot of times because
we spend more time with each other than then we
do with our own families many times, so you better
like the person next to you and have that type
(07:43):
of comfort level with them. And I think it's one
of the unique things feeling that has missed a whole lot.
And it's not so much that nobody else. You don't
have any other friends, it's not that, but.
Speaker 4 (07:54):
It's just different.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
You share a special bomb in it because life.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
You really there's not many other examples of of something
that would compare. I mean, I need to work well
with my producer John Alden because we do a show
together and we work really well together. You need to
work well with your partner and your your team, right
because you want to have a good, healthy work environment,
but also because of of what it is. It's it's
law enforcement, it's it's working together and and and and
(08:19):
you know, avoiding some mistakes that of course at that
level can be can be tragic. Well you know a
level of trust, it's well, it's life and death.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
Absolutely. I was gonna say that, but I didn't want
to know that.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
That's the truth, the bottom line truth.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Every day when you show up to patrol, you can
find yourself in a situation that could they could be
deadly for you or somebody elbsolutely.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
And you have to be able to depend on that
individual that if we're in this situation, I got your
back and you got mine. And it's not ever really said,
but it's conveyed.
Speaker 4 (08:46):
And it's understood. You felt right.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
There you go and uh, sometimes you can mess with people,
sometimes you can't. But by and large, in those very
few seconds, you have to make a wonderful decision. I
think that's one of the things that's missed than law enforcement.
You know, there's a lot of criticism of officers and
should we should be scrutinized on certain things at certain times,
But the bottom line is you have to make a
(09:11):
very difficult decision in a few seconds and hope that
it's right, and the majority of the time.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
It is, and it's then it's the type of decision
and the type of timeline that most will never experience.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Right because you're as an officer, you're thrust in the situation.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
It's not things that I overthink everything I do in life.
So I know that if I was in that spot
at a tight time crunch meeting seconds, I mean, I
would hope training and would do me well. But it's
a situation that obviously most will never be in and
also something that shouldn't need to be said, but maybe
it does just because of the climate of some things.
(09:51):
No law enforcement officer would tell you they're perfect. No,
they would tell you that they make mistakes. And you know,
sometimes a little mistake, given the nature of what it is,
can be costly. And but that's that's what you sign
up for. That's why, that's that's why it's such a
commitment to to get into that line of work.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Well, if you ever come across a perfect person, get
away from them because you're gonna mess them.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Up, because that's what it is.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
I've yet, I've yet to see one or meet one,
and I'm sure I'm sure I never will. But that's
you know, people make mistakes. Nobody would claim that that
you don't. But that's you know, more often than not,
way more often than not, those split those those decisions
because of training, because of experience, it ends up being
one that was the right decision right and.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
The majority time it is because we're not talking about
it that much. Yep.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
And that again another another another aspect of just the
things you see and hear about. That's not every daily
rundown of what I mean. It's there's so much more
to it. And you're right, the the typical things that
go off smoothly are the things that are that are
that are good, that are that are good signs and
good examples of the good that comes from law enforcement.
It's just it's never going to get the the level
(10:56):
of publicity. And I think sometimes we just don't ignore that,
but it just becomes out of sight, out of mind.
But with you all, you just have to know that
going in and just know that that's going to be
the way it always is. And that would be tough
for a lot of people.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
I would imagine.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
It's something that I always say and always heard and
hurting in my church. First, I always give that, but
a lot of people see your glory, but they don't
know your story or what it took to get there
and what it takes to mow that situation. Because I mean,
the way you're on the radio, somebody said, well I
can go do that because you make it look easy
until you sit there and have to do it, because
(11:33):
you don't know what it takes to get here for
it to look that smooth. And it's through training, it's
through experience, and almost exists in every profession.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
That touches every craft right, every craft it does.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
And so therefore you know, even though I don't do
your job, I respect it because I know you've got
something unique. And I think that's the way we all
should look at one another. And I think we do that,
we'll have a better understanding and maybe give each other
a little grace every now and then as a result.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
Well, thank you, and I appreciate just saying that. And
I think you're you're spot on again with everything that
folks do. You just don't know, you know. I like
that you see the glory, you don't know the story.
Speaker 4 (12:08):
I like that.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
Look at him bringing wisdom like he does every week, Dwight,
as always, we appreciate the time, sir. Having a weekend.
Go cards, let's get it done, to night, get it done,
let's freak get into existence.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Well maybe we have a Bengals up a thing like
they had.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
Last Yeah, brought some magic good stuff. All right, let's
get to a quick time out. We've got traffic of
weather updates on the way right here on news Radio
eight forty whas it is seven thirty five here at
news Radio eight forty whas Coffee and Company with you
on a Friday, helping you get the weekend started. And
we've got mister Alex White with us here in studio
you've heard me reference Alex and his team in the
(12:40):
last couple of weeks as they have been. They're now
powering our talkback line on the out Radio app. But
Alex is also a friend of mine and we're gonna
hear from him here and there throughout these next few
months and hopefully until the end of time. But Alex,
welcome in. This is our second time on the radio together,
and I remember and this is probably something you should
include in your bio. I think the longest segment I've
ever done in radio was remember you and I at
(13:00):
your office before you have a football game. We just
started talking sports, talking cars.
Speaker 4 (13:04):
I forgot I was.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
On the radio, and I can't do that here, so
we'll try to keep it a little more, you know, structured,
but always always a pleasure to chat with.
Speaker 4 (13:12):
You, my man.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Yeah, and thank you for waking up early for us.
Speaker 5 (13:15):
Yes, yeah, it's you got an early show, but it's
a great show, so I'm glad to be here.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
Well, thank you, so you so. For those who don't
know Alex White, his practice Alex R. White, PLLC, sue
Distracted Driver dot Com, the brandsudistracted Driver dot Com. Uh
I recently learned the story of how that kind of
all came about as far as the emphasis there when
you started your when you started your practice, your firm.
But I think the story is, I mean like it's made.
(13:39):
It It's like it's like something in a movie. So
I'll give you the floor here to kind of tell
us how you decided to take this path into what
you're doing now and continuously growing a successful firm. But
also that's that's part of the big the brand suit
distracted driver dot com. I was at my son's football
practice last night and I saw two people with hoodies
on and and it's there, the sponsorship, just the presence
in the community. But the story about all came about.
(14:01):
The floor is yours, my friend.
Speaker 4 (14:02):
Sure thing.
Speaker 5 (14:02):
So two car wrecks kind of got me to where
I was at one when I was sixteen years old.
I just sent you a picture of my car after
the fact, so pretty bad wreck, not my fault. And
the insurance company, you know, they do their thing. They
wait till I'm eighteen years old to try to settle
the case. I wanted five thousand dollars, they offered three
hundred and fifty, and so began negotiating my first personal
(14:25):
injury case. Ultimately, the adjuster was a huge jerk to me.
We had several conversations and I said, I'm going to
do two things, man, I'm going to hire an attorney
to settle this case, and I'm going to go to
law school so I can sue you guys over and
over and over again. My attorney selld the case for
sixty seven hundred bucks.
Speaker 4 (14:42):
It was awesome. I was nineteen years old.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
It was a win.
Speaker 5 (14:45):
Yeah, it was a big win, more than I could
have got on my own. And you know that that
relationship with that attorney and the situation with the insurance
like really kind.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Of put things in motion for you. Right, Yes, lit
a fire under me. So eight so, And I say,
this is somebody ignorant to how a lot of this works.
When you say they waited, it was strategic on their
end to wait till you were eighteen, right, to try
to maybe take advantage of you being the one who'd
make the call because you are an adult now, and
you wouldn't. It wouldn't be I mean, I guess if
you're a minor, your parents.
Speaker 5 (15:15):
Right, Yeah, they told my dad that it would just
be easier because of the paperwork to wait till I
was eighteen.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
But clearly there was there was they were doing it
for obvious reasons.
Speaker 5 (15:23):
Yeah, I never asked him this I need to, but
I wonder what he thought, Like, you know, I was
a redheaded kid that maybe had a chip on my shoulder. Anyways,
he probably thought, yeah, they'll have it, they'll have their
hands full. Maybe he thought, ah, I don't know, but
does he know?
Speaker 1 (15:38):
I mean, like obviously that that's that's the root of
where it all started. But before that, I mean, were
you ever thinking about going to law school?
Speaker 4 (15:47):
Was it? Okay?
Speaker 1 (15:48):
I assume that was the case, but I don't know
if this one accident completely and again it certainly did
have a big impact on you, and it's still to
this day. Something that's that's that's impactful on where you are.
But yeah, that'll do it. You were you were Wait
a second, this isn't right. I'm gonna do something about it.
Speaker 4 (16:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (16:02):
So I had a lot of student loan debt whenever
I graduated law school six figures. And when I got
into a position to pay that off and settled my
first really substantial case, it was against that company.
Speaker 4 (16:14):
So they they actually paid for me to go to
law school. That's awesome. So but then in law school,
so this is the someone who.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
Someone who's driven by I mean, that's that's like, that's
fuel that absolutely, Like it's just that's a beautiful part
of the story to know that that's that you get
that all paid off and it's still roots back to
where it all started.
Speaker 5 (16:33):
If they just give me five thousand dollars, this whole
thing could have been avoided. You know, It's true. I
can have a much less stressful job, but here we are.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
I mean, yeah, there's a lot of stress with it,
but also very successful and there's also a lot of
what you do. I feel like that it's rewarding too, right,
I love it. I was gonna say it's you wouldn't
do it. If you didn't, it wouldn't drive you to
be where you are if there's not something kind of
internally that that you take satisfaction in knowing that you're
you know, you're you're doing great, the great you're helping people.
Speaker 5 (16:58):
Yeah, I love the job. I love the results specifically though,
I love the people I work with. You know, Officer
earlier talked about how you spend more people you spend
more time with people you work with, maybe than your
own family. So you know, if your name's on the building,
you get a pick who comes in and who leaves.
Speaker 4 (17:15):
As far as your workforce. Build a team, and I've.
Speaker 5 (17:17):
Been very you know, specific in trying to make sure
we get the right hires so that we can have
a good team. And like, it's all about my team.
So I love going to work. We just got a
brand new building. We moved last month into thirteen thousand
square foot building off of Hurstborn, and just the environment's awesome,
the ViBe's awesome, the people are awesome. So I don't know,
(17:37):
we got we got a good team, So it's it's
fun to do what we do.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
Yeah, it goes a long way whenever you've got a
team and whenever there's there's good energy, consistency and just
overall culture. I mean that's a word that gets thrown
out often, but it's for good reason because it matters.
Speaker 4 (17:51):
It goes a long way.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
And I can say those that I have met that
that are part of your team, they've got a similar
vibe to you. I think it's it's been infectious, which
again that's that's how you grow it. But let's go
back to when you were at u of L in
law school, and then you took the you know, the
direction here to to really build the brand that is
so distracted driver dot com.
Speaker 5 (18:10):
Yeah, so I'll keep it as sure as possible. I
want to tell the good stuff. This is all about football.
So I started a flag football team at U L
called Brand I Splits. Throughout the last fifteen years, it's
been a team almost every single season, so franchise really,
it's brand as Splitz the franchise now, yes, And our
(18:30):
first year we sucked. So I realized I need to
do recruiting. You know, how do you build a program.
You got to go get your players. So my second
year at the law school, I volunteered for Accepted Student
Day and that got the free look at you know,
who was coming in. Who can we get for the
team who played college sports? Got my quarterback. The second
season we were awesome. I think we were like one
game out from the intermural champion.
Speaker 4 (18:51):
It's an important position.
Speaker 5 (18:52):
And then going into three al year, most people were
concerned about graduation, what classes they were taking, and I
was all about Accepted Students.
Speaker 4 (18:59):
Day priorities in the right way. In the right order.
Speaker 5 (19:01):
I needed a big time wide receiver, so I volunteer.
We get, you know, great recruits. I tell them like, look,
law school's hard. I've got really good notes from these
classes you're gonna take. We're gonna share them with you.
You'll get the outlines if you're on BRANDI splits like,
school's gonna be easy.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
It'll work out for you.
Speaker 5 (19:18):
So no Nil dells then, and I couldn't have afforded
it any just for the love of the game. We
had some good notes. So anyways, driving home from that day,
I'm sitting on the interchange between sixty five South and
Gene Snyder and I'm sitting in traffic for about a minute,
minute and a half. All the cars are stopped. The
(19:38):
car behind me stopped, and I'm in my ninety one
toy to four runner and then boom, I look up
behind me. This car just got hit and then boom
they hit me. I go forward about five or six
car links into another lane and hit a fourth car.
Speaker 4 (19:54):
Wow.
Speaker 5 (19:55):
So at the scene I thought it was okay. About
an hour and a half later, when I got home,
had laid down. I could not walk like I would.
My back was just absolutely jacked. It was so bad.
I actually had to call my ex girlfriend to take
me to the hospital.
Speaker 4 (20:08):
So tough rack.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
That speaks to how much pain you must take it,
and that's the situation most would not want to do.
Speaker 4 (20:13):
No, I had to.
Speaker 5 (20:14):
I had to really humble myself in that moment. But
it was a bad injury and I was, you know,
doing treatment at the time. So I worked with a
chiropractor and they helped me a ton, and I was
traded for several months. But you know, in the first
few weeks it was it was really tough. Luckily, by
the time flag football Intermural season rolled around, it was
(20:35):
good enough that I could play and we actually won
the championship.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
So you know, people are still talking about it all
over town. By the way, I know that great run.
Speaker 5 (20:44):
You guys can't go anywhere in this town without hearing
about the twenty twelve U of L Intermural Football Championships.
So but it was great, because you know, it was
not great. The championship was great, but it started with
I have to I have to get over something that
was caused by distract driver and she came in at
like full speed, like fifty five miles an hour hit
all these stop cars, so that injury was something that
(21:08):
was really bad for me at the time. And I
tell clients all the time, I say, look, based on
what your injury is, how this is going to affect
your life at this moment is going to be totally
different than what it would have done to you five
years ago, what it would do to me, what it
would do to somebody else. And one of the things
that we're going to do with your case is tell
the story of the effects a daily life of you
and the value of your case and what the effect
(21:30):
was is going to come from the personal aspect, and
that's why it's called personal injury. You and I could
have the same injury, the same diagnosis codes, the same
amount of treatment, medical billing to get better, and you know,
we could have much different routes and how it kind
of puts our life upside down.
Speaker 4 (21:47):
I would say, your.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Experience in having been impacted by a distracted driver, that's
got to go a long way with clients that you'd meet,
right like, they understand that obviously you have a legitimate
connection into this because you were impacted I guess so
in two different instances yourself and you know, not to
say others haven't been in that situation as well, but
that's got to have value when it comes to convincing
(22:10):
clients that you will in fact fight for them because
you know the situation they're in.
Speaker 5 (22:13):
Yeah, it helped me kind of get into this at
a very young age. So since I had this exposure,
you know, before I even stept foot on law school
campus to start out with it was it was already
something I was very familiar with. And then when I
started my practice, as soon as I passed the bar,
I actually filed the paperwork and started alex Right PILC.
So thirteen years ago in October actually, so we just
(22:35):
turned thirteen. But you know, out of the gate, I
hung my shingle. I started my practice. Where a lot
of people would go and they'd work for another firm,
or they'd work for you know, an office somewhere. I
you know, I had some experience here, so I started
working on it.
Speaker 4 (22:51):
At the very beginning.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
It was your laying yes, so to speak.
Speaker 5 (22:54):
And then so you know, five years into practice, I've
got five years worth of you know, hands on experience
as the attorney in this pre area where a lot
of people if they started you know, maybe in a
different pool. It took them a few years to get
to where they started. So I felt like I just
got so much more experienced, specifically in this area at
a young age that by the time I was in
my thirties, you know, I felt very good at what.
Speaker 4 (23:14):
I was doing. It was valued.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
You'd establish something to just continue to build on and grow,
and that's that's exactly that's exactly what you've done. And
part of that is just with how you've given back
to the community. I think one of the coolest things
that you're a part of is the First Car Project.
Tell us a little bit about that.
Speaker 5 (23:31):
The First Car Project is a nonprofit that I started
with some friends about two years ago, and ultimately we
want to tap into the great car guy community in
Louisville and build synergy. And what we've done is we've
raised money, We've gotten a ton of gifts, we've gotten
a ton of free labor, and we have been able
to give away kind of refurbished cars to foster kids
(23:52):
in Kentucky, foster youth that are aging out of the system,
so eighteen nineteen year olds that you know, they don't
have the parents, don't have the rich hucle somewhere that's
going to write them a check and buy them a car.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
And they're starting that next process in their life.
Speaker 4 (24:05):
Yes, it's a pivotal, pivotal time. Now.
Speaker 5 (24:08):
In my profession, I see people that don't have cars
temporarily because it's totaled or because it's wrecked and it's
in the shop. And I can see the times that
if they don't have transportation, even for a two week period,
just the chaos that that can create, especially when you're
talking about, you know, somebody possibly living paycheck to paycheck,
like you've got to be able to get to work,
and if no, you take an uber that adds up too.
(24:28):
I mean, so transportation is the number one, you know thing.
I think that as an adult, as a young adult,
you have to have if you're going to have a
chance of being successful.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
If you're if you're aging out of the foster system
and you're looking to get a job and you're out
there in the real world with no longer having the
assistance that you had from the foster from foster care,
I mean, yeah, I can't imagine many would be in
a situation where it would be any way convenient to
find themselves in a vehicle. So what I loved about
this is one, it's just great to do this, but
the those that you reach out to, it seems as
(24:57):
if there are many that have been willing to say, Okay, yeah, yeah,
we'll donate free label, we'll donate time, we'll donate maybe
a car, and that just it's one of those rare
examples seemingly of there's still a lot of good going
on in the world. Because it's such a good what
you all are doing, I can see and I'm happy
to know that that people do want to be involved,
they do want to help. I mean, there's countless partners
that you guys have had that are willing to help,
(25:19):
and that it goes along way.
Speaker 4 (25:20):
It makes it possible. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (25:21):
So like my work day yesterday, get to the office,
I drink as much coffee as I can, file a
couple of lawsuits, talk to some staff. Then I leave
to go to Pulling Motors. It's a shop in town.
I pick up a Toyota Avalon that they've worked on,
done alignment brakes, oil, checked everything out, fixed everything that
we could find that was wrong with the car. This
car was donated for free to us. Also at this point,
(25:43):
it's leaving mechanically sound. Fortunately in this particular case, we
have like very little cash invested from the nonprofit. And
I drive it to Bullet County, good place to be.
It was a great place.
Speaker 4 (25:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (25:57):
I drive it down there during work hours, drop it
off detail shop Goods.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
Uh, if you're familiar, I'm familiar with them Brooks, right, Brooks, yeap,
oh yeah, So.
Speaker 4 (26:05):
Drop it off the people there, drop off the keys
sech a Bullet County thing that I know who that is.
I knew you would, uh.
Speaker 5 (26:11):
And then I hop in an uber and go back
to pulling to get my car and drive home. So
that's how I, you know, ended the second half of
my day was working, uh, you know, doing these tasks
because you know, anything that we can do to get
these cars ready faster and make sure that this is
going smooth, it is going to be good for our nonprofit.
And I want it to keep going because I want
to give away as many cars as possible throughout the years.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
And two of them are going to be given away
at rad Revival, which will be at the the end
of the Cup two weekends to two weeks from this weekend.
Speaker 5 (26:39):
Right, Yeah, it's November. First, Halloween's on Friday, and then
this is like Halloween two.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
So first right, so to two of the foster kids
are gonna are going to be given two vehicles, which
is awesome, but it's also a party, and it's it's
eighties and nineties. This is uh, this is right in
my wheehouse. You and I are around the same age.
I think we are the same age. So like there's
something about the eighties that we didn't quite get to
experience enough to where I feel like I belong in
the eighties and the nineties. Of course that's what we
(27:05):
grew up in. I mean eighties nineties party, Paris Town.
I mean this is this is the spot.
Speaker 5 (27:11):
To be second year of it, right, this will be
the third year, okay, third year yeah, so it's gonna
be great. So eighties and nineties. We're asking people to
dress up in your favorite eighties and nineties either like
style or maybe movie character, TV character.
Speaker 4 (27:26):
A lot of options, yes, so dress up creative.
Speaker 5 (27:28):
From five to I believe ten PM, Paris Town. We
have about one hundred and twenty five cars in this
particular show. We limit it to eighties and nineties cars only,
So if you got a seventy nine. It wasn't in
it's got two thousand. Sorry, can't be there.
Speaker 4 (27:43):
This is close to club here, this is.
Speaker 5 (27:44):
For the Golden era. We're gonna have some trunk or treating,
live music, food. It's a whole vibe. And I heard
that you're gonna be down there. Yeah, possibly checking the vibe.
Speaker 4 (27:55):
I hope.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
So, I mean, look, eighties and nineties that's where the
best vibes were. I mean a lot of people think
that their era that they grew up in, that that
was that was the best.
Speaker 4 (28:03):
They're wrong. I'd say eighties nineties is the best.
Speaker 5 (28:05):
One thing specifically that I'm gonna have there. One we're
gonna give away like five hundred pre T shirts, So
come get your pre T shirt find me. But I
have a Blitz ninety nine stand up arcade machine.
Speaker 4 (28:17):
Oh yeah, now we're talking, so I'm bringing it.
Speaker 5 (28:19):
I'm gonna bring my little electronic generator and if you
want to get on the sticks, you know, we.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
Always absolutely Yeah, I'm gonna start thinking it just different.
I mean, I don't know what I'm gonna dress up as.
Speaker 4 (28:29):
I'm'n have to have. My wife helped me out with that.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
But like, there's just I look forward to finding like
a forgotten thing from the eighties or nineties. That would
be a nice, you know, nice nice conversation starter at
the party. Right.
Speaker 4 (28:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (28:39):
I've even called people I know that work at Coca
Cola to see like, is there any way that you
could get us like surge, Like do you guys have
any way to like print something? And they're like, dude,
get out of here.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
I remember how to get some crystal PEPSI there'd be
halfway to dream, halfway through a surge, and I felt
like my heart was going to explode as like an
eight year old. Luckily I survived.
Speaker 4 (28:57):
Now, kids say are drinking?
Speaker 1 (28:58):
Yes, the kids today are too soft to drink serg Right,
they're just they're not. We were built different back then,
at least that's the way I like to look at it.
But Alex, appreciate you stopping in. We look forward to
having you back here in a couple of weeks and
thank you for all that you do. And we appreciate you,
my man.
Speaker 4 (29:10):
We'll see November first at rad Revival.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
That's right, all right, let's get to a quick time out.
We've got sports updates coming your way. Also, you know,
the drill trafficking weather, and also coming up at eight o'clock,
eight oh five, I should say we'll be joined by
Mayor Greenberg right here on news Radio eight forty whas
Our busy Friday morning continues here on news radio eight
forty w h A S Coffee and Company with you,
and we are field by Thornton's. We've got LMPD spokesman
Dwight Mitchell with us here in studio. He joins us
each and every week. You know, uh, you know who
it is, all right. So I want to start with, uh,
with something we were just chatting about off the air,
because somebody had brought this up to me a while
back and I forgot to ask you, and uh it
(00:21):
takes me back to uh, a memory that I think
I'm gonna remember for a long time. But that is
I guess we'll just start here. There are l MPD
officers that are that are horses technically, right, Like that's
a real thing, right, yes, And I'm sure people listening
they have seen where there's a law enforcement officer that
is out and about in certain areas and they are
they're on a horse. And I knew of that, hadn't
(00:42):
thought about it. But these these aren't just I mean pets.
These they're they're trained, they they're they're part of the team.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Right absolutely, They're just like our canines. Uh.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
But they're horses, and we have sworn officers who who
are the writers of those and take care of them,
and they have a special passion for that. And you know,
horses can go where cars can't, and no doubt so, yes,
it's one of our proud units that we do have.
We've had them for many, many years and I hope
we have them for many years to come.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
And kids love them.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Oh absolutely, that was what That's what got me to
think about it. Because my son he loves he's he's
going to be a cop for Halloween. He loves firefighters
and cops. He those are his heroes. And I wish
I could claim it's because I really instill that in him.
I didn't go to my way to do it. It's
just something he's picked up on, which is really cool.
And a lot of kids, I think, do that at
a young age for sure, especially whenever they do have interactions.
(01:35):
And when a Copple kneel down and shake his hand,
he thinks it's the coolest thing ever. But he was
at Churchill Downs. He also loves horse racing, and his
two worlds collided and he was the best of both
worlds for him. Wait a second, cops can ride horses.
This is this is so cool, right, and I hadn't
really thought much about it. But it's not just that
like you're not going to Churchill Downs and borrowing these
horses for the job. I mean they're they're trained and
(01:58):
there are officers that again are trained to to be
those that that that that you know obviously depend upon
those when when they're on patrol, right, And I mean,
I'm just thinking of of the connection you would make.
I mean, it's kind of like your partner, right.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Oh, it is, and it's a great public relations tool.
And one of the things is just said, you know,
your son's addressed up to be an officer for for Halloween.
But you know, that was the thing a lot of
times that a lot of kids, of course, I think
guys wanted to be fireman and police officers. And even
though you know it's changed a little bit, it's still
(02:31):
something that because for some kids, that's your first superhero.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Absolutely, and that's and that's exactly what it is, because
it's it's it's actually it's awesome to see that the
you know, the human element, one that is pure and
still young. Is it makes total sense that naturally, when
you realize Okay, who's here. Here's somebody who's saving somebody, right,
So you know, now he has access to YouTube, so
he he's you know, the kids YouTube, but he he's
(02:57):
you know, he watches all kinds of stuff that is
specifically for Like he just watches that stuff all day, right,
and it makes littal sense because he realizes he's got
other heroes too, Like you think Isaac Brown's the best
football player they ever played, But Isaac Brown's not saving lives.
Speaker 4 (03:10):
You know what I mean?
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Right there you go, it might be saving his on Saturday.
Speaker 4 (03:14):
Yes, absolutely, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
So when it comes to just I guess the process
of and this may not be something you've ever been
directly involved in, but as far as determining which horses
and even which canines are going to be with you
know that are going to be utilized and essentially join
the force. I mean, I'm sure there's a lot that
goes into that.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
Well, yes, and it's a great expense because you're trying
to get the best of the best of those particular animals.
When you deal my note with canine in particular, you
know thousands of dollars are paid for those those canines
to come in our unit, and there's certain breeds for
certain type of elements that we're using them in law enforcement.
(03:52):
And uh, you know, the officers that have them take
excellent care of them as you know, as a human
as they can, and they've become part of their families
as well. And many officers when they retire take the
dogs with them.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Really, yes, that's awesome, has that type of bond.
Speaker 4 (04:09):
It makes total sense and that's the way it should be.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Nobody else can really handle them but them, And so
we put that kind of investment in. And again, they're
valuable tools for us. And it's another two of our
two belt. It's our utility.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
Bet well, it's another beautiful element to what LMPD and
law enforcement in general does. I'm sure there's other departments,
other forces across the country that have a similar situation
to where they rely on the canine and horses and whatnot.
And again, just each time we have these conversations each week,
there's things that come up that I know I'm not alone.
I don't know how many of us are out there,
but just things you don't typically think about that give
(04:41):
you a bitter, give you a bigger and more broad
picture of what l and PD is overall, and also
you guys have some sluggers. I saw yesterday or maybe
it was two days ago, folks from l ANDPD and
folks from the Loisal Fire Department out at Jim Patterson Stadium.
I thought it might have been a game, but it's
just you're out there just having fun, right, No competition.
Speaker 4 (05:00):
At that time, but there's been some there's been.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Some battles between Louisville Fire Department and the Lotiver Metro
Police Department when it comes to basketball. And why don't
they do that anymore? Let's bring about it.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
Well, yeah, and it could be, but a lot of
people older, and that's true, change, you know, and things
of that nature. But it used to be highly competitive,
I guarantee it. We used to do it in September
around nine eleven after that happened, and we had an
annual game to gap a lot of publicity and had
great crowds.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
I believe, I remember that. I believe Denny Crumb was
at one point involved in helping promote that.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Yes, yes, in fact, he was a coach when Honore coach.
He did it and it was a great thing. And
then on the police part, we had some former Louisville
players that were officers that were on Charles Jones.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Coach, of course, he and his brother.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
I bet both LNPD and the lois Fire Department among
the many men and women that serve, I'm sure a
lot of them, even those that didn't necessarily play at
a high high level.
Speaker 4 (05:58):
I bet they've got some good athlete.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Oh absolutely.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
In fact, we've got a couple of former NFL players
that are officers that are on the police department and
all offices. Many of them have professions before they became
officers that are highly trained to do other things, and
they end up doing that when when they leave the department,
whether it's retirement on whether they choose to go onto
the path.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
And that's what's unique about it.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
We have very qualified of men and women on a
police department that can do many things and a lot
of smart people around.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Now. Is that a because I feel like that would
be if you are a college athlete, and at that point,
if you're playing high level, it's probably consumed a lot
of your life. Right, It's been a job for you.
It's been something you've put so much time into and
once that's over, and that is a difficult time that
a lot of people don't realize is once college is
over and you know you're not going pro in sports,
(06:49):
kind of reinventing yourself has to happen for some of
these guys, which it does seem like there's a lot
more awareness of that, and then there's programs, but I
can see many athletes saying, hey, that seems like something
I could really really want to get into.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
Right, because it's another team, right, and that's what you know.
Teamwork makes the dream work, and that's what we do
on the police farmerly working now.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
I bet what I missed the most about sports, even
twenty years after I've played sports competitively, is the camaraderie.
And there's nothing that can maybe give you that quite
like what you will have right.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Yes, you know, and many officers are very close. The
families are close with each other because you know, you
didn't know family was all you needed until that's all
you have. It's right, and a lot of times because
we spend more time with each other than then we
do with our own families many times, so you better
like the person next to you and have that type
(07:43):
of comfort level with them. And I think it's one
of the unique things feeling that has missed a whole lot.
And it's not so much that nobody else. You don't
have any other friends, it's not that, but.
Speaker 4 (07:54):
It's just different.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
You share a special bomb in it because life.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
You really there's not many other examples of of something
that would compare. I mean, I need to work well
with my producer John Alden because we do a show
together and we work really well together. You need to
work well with your partner and your your team, right
because you want to have a good, healthy work environment,
but also because of of what it is. It's it's
law enforcement, it's it's working together and and and and
(08:19):
you know, avoiding some mistakes that of course at that
level can be can be tragic. Well you know a
level of trust, it's well, it's life and death.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
Absolutely. I was gonna say that, but I didn't want
to know that.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
That's the truth, the bottom line truth.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Every day when you show up to patrol, you can
find yourself in a situation that could they could be
deadly for you or somebody elbsolutely.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
And you have to be able to depend on that
individual that if we're in this situation, I got your
back and you got mine. And it's not ever really said,
but it's conveyed.
Speaker 4 (08:46):
And it's understood. You felt right.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
There you go and uh, sometimes you can mess with people,
sometimes you can't. But by and large, in those very
few seconds, you have to make a wonderful decision. I
think that's one of the things that's missed than law enforcement.
You know, there's a lot of criticism of officers and
should we should be scrutinized on certain things at certain times,
But the bottom line is you have to make a
(09:11):
very difficult decision in a few seconds and hope that
it's right, and the majority of the time.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
It is, and it's then it's the type of decision
and the type of timeline that most will never experience.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Right because you're as an officer, you're thrust in the situation.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
It's not things that I overthink everything I do in life.
So I know that if I was in that spot
at a tight time crunch meeting seconds, I mean, I
would hope training and would do me well. But it's
a situation that obviously most will never be in and
also something that shouldn't need to be said, but maybe
it does just because of the climate of some things.
(09:51):
No law enforcement officer would tell you they're perfect. No,
they would tell you that they make mistakes. And you know,
sometimes a little mistake, given the nature of what it is,
can be costly. And but that's that's what you sign
up for. That's why, that's that's why it's such a
commitment to to get into that line of work.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Well, if you ever come across a perfect person, get
away from them because you're gonna mess them.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Up, because that's what it is.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
I've yet, I've yet to see one or meet one,
and I'm sure I'm sure I never will. But that's
you know, people make mistakes. Nobody would claim that that
you don't. But that's you know, more often than not,
way more often than not, those split those those decisions
because of training, because of experience, it ends up being
one that was the right decision right and.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
The majority time it is because we're not talking about
it that much. Yep.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
And that again another another another aspect of just the
things you see and hear about. That's not every daily
rundown of what I mean. It's there's so much more
to it. And you're right, the the typical things that
go off smoothly are the things that are that are
that are good, that are that are good signs and
good examples of the good that comes from law enforcement.
It's just it's never going to get the the level
(10:56):
of publicity. And I think sometimes we just don't ignore that,
but it just becomes out of sight, out of mind.
But with you all, you just have to know that
going in and just know that that's going to be
the way it always is. And that would be tough
for a lot of people.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
I would imagine.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
It's something that I always say and always heard and
hurting in my church. First, I always give that, but
a lot of people see your glory, but they don't
know your story or what it took to get there
and what it takes to mow that situation. Because I mean,
the way you're on the radio, somebody said, well I
can go do that because you make it look easy
until you sit there and have to do it, because
(11:33):
you don't know what it takes to get here for
it to look that smooth. And it's through training, it's
through experience, and almost exists in every profession.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
That touches every craft right, every craft it does.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
And so therefore you know, even though I don't do
your job, I respect it because I know you've got
something unique. And I think that's the way we all
should look at one another. And I think we do that,
we'll have a better understanding and maybe give each other
a little grace every now and then as a result.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
Well, thank you, and I appreciate just saying that. And
I think you're you're spot on again with everything that
folks do. You just don't know, you know. I like
that you see the glory, you don't know the story.
Speaker 4 (12:08):
I like that.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
Look at him bringing wisdom like he does every week, Dwight,
as always, we appreciate the time, sir. Having a weekend.
Go cards, let's get it done, to night, get it done,
let's freak get into existence.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Well maybe we have a Bengals up a thing like
they had.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
Last Yeah, brought some magic good stuff. All right, let's
get to a quick time out. We've got traffic of
weather updates on the way right here on news Radio
eight forty whas it is seven thirty five here at
news Radio eight forty whas Coffee and Company with you
on a Friday, helping you get the weekend started. And
we've got mister Alex White with us here in studio
you've heard me reference Alex and his team in the
(12:40):
last couple of weeks as they have been. They're now
powering our talkback line on the out Radio app. But
Alex is also a friend of mine and we're gonna
hear from him here and there throughout these next few
months and hopefully until the end of time. But Alex,
welcome in. This is our second time on the radio together,
and I remember and this is probably something you should
include in your bio. I think the longest segment I've
ever done in radio was remember you and I at
(13:00):
your office before you have a football game. We just
started talking sports, talking cars.
Speaker 4 (13:04):
I forgot I was.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
On the radio, and I can't do that here, so
we'll try to keep it a little more, you know, structured,
but always always a pleasure to chat with.
Speaker 4 (13:12):
You, my man.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Yeah, and thank you for waking up early for us.
Speaker 5 (13:15):
Yes, yeah, it's you got an early show, but it's
a great show, so I'm glad to be here.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
Well, thank you, so you so. For those who don't
know Alex White, his practice Alex R. White, PLLC, sue
Distracted Driver dot Com, the brandsudistracted Driver dot Com. Uh
I recently learned the story of how that kind of
all came about as far as the emphasis there when
you started your when you started your practice, your firm.
But I think the story is, I mean like it's made.
(13:39):
It It's like it's like something in a movie. So
I'll give you the floor here to kind of tell
us how you decided to take this path into what
you're doing now and continuously growing a successful firm. But
also that's that's part of the big the brand suit
distracted driver dot com. I was at my son's football
practice last night and I saw two people with hoodies
on and and it's there, the sponsorship, just the presence
in the community. But the story about all came about.
(14:01):
The floor is yours, my friend.
Speaker 4 (14:02):
Sure thing.
Speaker 5 (14:02):
So two car wrecks kind of got me to where
I was at one when I was sixteen years old.
I just sent you a picture of my car after
the fact, so pretty bad wreck, not my fault. And
the insurance company, you know, they do their thing. They
wait till I'm eighteen years old to try to settle
the case. I wanted five thousand dollars, they offered three
hundred and fifty, and so began negotiating my first personal
(14:25):
injury case. Ultimately, the adjuster was a huge jerk to me.
We had several conversations and I said, I'm going to
do two things, man, I'm going to hire an attorney
to settle this case, and I'm going to go to
law school so I can sue you guys over and
over and over again. My attorney selld the case for
sixty seven hundred bucks.
Speaker 4 (14:42):
It was awesome. I was nineteen years old.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
It was a win.
Speaker 5 (14:45):
Yeah, it was a big win, more than I could
have got on my own. And you know that that
relationship with that attorney and the situation with the insurance
like really kind.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Of put things in motion for you. Right, Yes, lit
a fire under me. So eight so, And I say,
this is somebody ignorant to how a lot of this works.
When you say they waited, it was strategic on their
end to wait till you were eighteen, right, to try
to maybe take advantage of you being the one who'd
make the call because you are an adult now, and
you wouldn't. It wouldn't be I mean, I guess if
you're a minor, your parents.
Speaker 5 (15:15):
Right, Yeah, they told my dad that it would just
be easier because of the paperwork to wait till I
was eighteen.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
But clearly there was there was they were doing it
for obvious reasons.
Speaker 5 (15:23):
Yeah, I never asked him this I need to, but
I wonder what he thought, Like, you know, I was
a redheaded kid that maybe had a chip on my shoulder. Anyways,
he probably thought, yeah, they'll have it, they'll have their
hands full. Maybe he thought, ah, I don't know, but
does he know?
Speaker 1 (15:38):
I mean, like obviously that that's that's the root of
where it all started. But before that, I mean, were
you ever thinking about going to law school?
Speaker 4 (15:47):
Was it? Okay?
Speaker 1 (15:48):
I assume that was the case, but I don't know
if this one accident completely and again it certainly did
have a big impact on you, and it's still to
this day. Something that's that's that's impactful on where you are.
But yeah, that'll do it. You were you were Wait
a second, this isn't right. I'm gonna do something about it.
Speaker 4 (16:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (16:02):
So I had a lot of student loan debt whenever
I graduated law school six figures. And when I got
into a position to pay that off and settled my
first really substantial case, it was against that company.
Speaker 4 (16:14):
So they they actually paid for me to go to
law school. That's awesome. So but then in law school,
so this is the someone who.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
Someone who's driven by I mean, that's that's like, that's
fuel that absolutely, Like it's just that's a beautiful part
of the story to know that that's that you get
that all paid off and it's still roots back to
where it all started.
Speaker 5 (16:33):
If they just give me five thousand dollars, this whole
thing could have been avoided. You know, It's true. I
can have a much less stressful job, but here we are.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
I mean, yeah, there's a lot of stress with it,
but also very successful and there's also a lot of
what you do. I feel like that it's rewarding too, right,
I love it. I was gonna say it's you wouldn't
do it. If you didn't, it wouldn't drive you to
be where you are if there's not something kind of
internally that that you take satisfaction in knowing that you're
you know, you're you're doing great, the great you're helping people.
Speaker 5 (16:58):
Yeah, I love the job. I love the results specifically though,
I love the people I work with. You know, Officer
earlier talked about how you spend more people you spend
more time with people you work with, maybe than your
own family. So you know, if your name's on the building,
you get a pick who comes in and who leaves.
Speaker 4 (17:15):
As far as your workforce. Build a team, and I've.
Speaker 5 (17:17):
Been very you know, specific in trying to make sure
we get the right hires so that we can have
a good team. And like, it's all about my team.
So I love going to work. We just got a
brand new building. We moved last month into thirteen thousand
square foot building off of Hurstborn, and just the environment's awesome,
the ViBe's awesome, the people are awesome. So I don't know,
(17:37):
we got we got a good team, So it's it's
fun to do what we do.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
Yeah, it goes a long way whenever you've got a
team and whenever there's there's good energy, consistency and just
overall culture. I mean that's a word that gets thrown
out often, but it's for good reason because it matters.
Speaker 4 (17:51):
It goes a long way.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
And I can say those that I have met that
that are part of your team, they've got a similar
vibe to you. I think it's it's been infectious, which
again that's that's how you grow it. But let's go
back to when you were at u of L in
law school, and then you took the you know, the
direction here to to really build the brand that is
so distracted driver dot com.
Speaker 5 (18:10):
Yeah, so I'll keep it as sure as possible. I
want to tell the good stuff. This is all about football.
So I started a flag football team at U L
called Brand I Splits. Throughout the last fifteen years, it's
been a team almost every single season, so franchise really,
it's brand as Splitz the franchise now, yes, And our
(18:30):
first year we sucked. So I realized I need to
do recruiting. You know, how do you build a program.
You got to go get your players. So my second
year at the law school, I volunteered for Accepted Student
Day and that got the free look at you know,
who was coming in. Who can we get for the
team who played college sports? Got my quarterback. The second
season we were awesome. I think we were like one
game out from the intermural champion.
Speaker 4 (18:51):
It's an important position.
Speaker 5 (18:52):
And then going into three al year, most people were
concerned about graduation, what classes they were taking, and I
was all about Accepted Students.
Speaker 4 (18:59):
Day priorities in the right way. In the right order.
Speaker 5 (19:01):
I needed a big time wide receiver, so I volunteer.
We get, you know, great recruits. I tell them like, look,
law school's hard. I've got really good notes from these
classes you're gonna take. We're gonna share them with you.
You'll get the outlines if you're on BRANDI splits like,
school's gonna be easy.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
It'll work out for you.
Speaker 5 (19:18):
So no Nil dells then, and I couldn't have afforded
it any just for the love of the game. We
had some good notes. So anyways, driving home from that day,
I'm sitting on the interchange between sixty five South and
Gene Snyder and I'm sitting in traffic for about a minute,
minute and a half. All the cars are stopped. The
(19:38):
car behind me stopped, and I'm in my ninety one
toy to four runner and then boom, I look up
behind me. This car just got hit and then boom
they hit me. I go forward about five or six
car links into another lane and hit a fourth car.
Speaker 4 (19:54):
Wow.
Speaker 5 (19:55):
So at the scene I thought it was okay. About
an hour and a half later, when I got home,
had laid down. I could not walk like I would.
My back was just absolutely jacked. It was so bad.
I actually had to call my ex girlfriend to take
me to the hospital.
Speaker 4 (20:08):
So tough rack.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
That speaks to how much pain you must take it,
and that's the situation most would not want to do.
Speaker 4 (20:13):
No, I had to.
Speaker 5 (20:14):
I had to really humble myself in that moment. But
it was a bad injury and I was, you know,
doing treatment at the time. So I worked with a
chiropractor and they helped me a ton, and I was
traded for several months. But you know, in the first
few weeks it was it was really tough. Luckily, by
the time flag football Intermural season rolled around, it was
(20:35):
good enough that I could play and we actually won
the championship.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
So you know, people are still talking about it all
over town. By the way, I know that great run.
Speaker 5 (20:44):
You guys can't go anywhere in this town without hearing
about the twenty twelve U of L Intermural Football Championships.
So but it was great, because you know, it was
not great. The championship was great, but it started with
I have to I have to get over something that
was caused by distract driver and she came in at
like full speed, like fifty five miles an hour hit
all these stop cars, so that injury was something that
(21:08):
was really bad for me at the time. And I
tell clients all the time, I say, look, based on
what your injury is, how this is going to affect
your life at this moment is going to be totally
different than what it would have done to you five
years ago, what it would do to me, what it
would do to somebody else. And one of the things
that we're going to do with your case is tell
the story of the effects a daily life of you
and the value of your case and what the effect
(21:30):
was is going to come from the personal aspect, and
that's why it's called personal injury. You and I could
have the same injury, the same diagnosis codes, the same
amount of treatment, medical billing to get better, and you know,
we could have much different routes and how it kind
of puts our life upside down.
Speaker 4 (21:47):
I would say, your.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Experience in having been impacted by a distracted driver, that's
got to go a long way with clients that you'd meet,
right like, they understand that obviously you have a legitimate
connection into this because you were impacted I guess so
in two different instances yourself and you know, not to
say others haven't been in that situation as well, but
that's got to have value when it comes to convincing
(22:10):
clients that you will in fact fight for them because
you know the situation they're in.
Speaker 5 (22:13):
Yeah, it helped me kind of get into this at
a very young age. So since I had this exposure,
you know, before I even stept foot on law school
campus to start out with it was it was already
something I was very familiar with. And then when I
started my practice, as soon as I passed the bar,
I actually filed the paperwork and started alex Right PILC.
So thirteen years ago in October actually, so we just
(22:35):
turned thirteen. But you know, out of the gate, I
hung my shingle. I started my practice. Where a lot
of people would go and they'd work for another firm,
or they'd work for you know, an office somewhere. I
you know, I had some experience here, so I started
working on it.
Speaker 4 (22:51):
At the very beginning.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
It was your laying yes, so to speak.
Speaker 5 (22:54):
And then so you know, five years into practice, I've
got five years worth of you know, hands on experience
as the attorney in this pre area where a lot
of people if they started you know, maybe in a
different pool. It took them a few years to get
to where they started. So I felt like I just
got so much more experienced, specifically in this area at
a young age that by the time I was in
my thirties, you know, I felt very good at what.
Speaker 4 (23:14):
I was doing. It was valued.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
You'd establish something to just continue to build on and grow,
and that's that's exactly that's exactly what you've done. And
part of that is just with how you've given back
to the community. I think one of the coolest things
that you're a part of is the First Car Project.
Tell us a little bit about that.
Speaker 5 (23:31):
The First Car Project is a nonprofit that I started
with some friends about two years ago, and ultimately we
want to tap into the great car guy community in
Louisville and build synergy. And what we've done is we've
raised money, We've gotten a ton of gifts, we've gotten
a ton of free labor, and we have been able
to give away kind of refurbished cars to foster kids
(23:52):
in Kentucky, foster youth that are aging out of the system,
so eighteen nineteen year olds that you know, they don't
have the parents, don't have the rich hucle somewhere that's
going to write them a check and buy them a car.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
And they're starting that next process in their life.
Speaker 4 (24:05):
Yes, it's a pivotal, pivotal time. Now.
Speaker 5 (24:08):
In my profession, I see people that don't have cars
temporarily because it's totaled or because it's wrecked and it's
in the shop. And I can see the times that
if they don't have transportation, even for a two week period,
just the chaos that that can create, especially when you're
talking about, you know, somebody possibly living paycheck to paycheck,
like you've got to be able to get to work,
and if no, you take an uber that adds up too.
(24:28):
I mean, so transportation is the number one, you know thing.
I think that as an adult, as a young adult,
you have to have if you're going to have a
chance of being successful.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
If you're if you're aging out of the foster system
and you're looking to get a job and you're out
there in the real world with no longer having the
assistance that you had from the foster from foster care,
I mean, yeah, I can't imagine many would be in
a situation where it would be any way convenient to
find themselves in a vehicle. So what I loved about
this is one, it's just great to do this, but
the those that you reach out to, it seems as
(24:57):
if there are many that have been willing to say, Okay, yeah, yeah,
we'll donate free label, we'll donate time, we'll donate maybe
a car, and that just it's one of those rare
examples seemingly of there's still a lot of good going
on in the world. Because it's such a good what
you all are doing, I can see and I'm happy
to know that that people do want to be involved,
they do want to help. I mean, there's countless partners
that you guys have had that are willing to help,
(25:19):
and that it goes along way.
Speaker 4 (25:20):
It makes it possible. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (25:21):
So like my work day yesterday, get to the office,
I drink as much coffee as I can, file a
couple of lawsuits, talk to some staff. Then I leave
to go to Pulling Motors. It's a shop in town.
I pick up a Toyota Avalon that they've worked on,
done alignment brakes, oil, checked everything out, fixed everything that
we could find that was wrong with the car. This
car was donated for free to us. Also at this point,
(25:43):
it's leaving mechanically sound. Fortunately in this particular case, we
have like very little cash invested from the nonprofit. And
I drive it to Bullet County, good place to be.
It was a great place.
Speaker 4 (25:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (25:57):
I drive it down there during work hours, drop it
off detail shop Goods.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
Uh, if you're familiar, I'm familiar with them Brooks, right, Brooks, yeap,
oh yeah, So.
Speaker 4 (26:05):
Drop it off the people there, drop off the keys
sech a Bullet County thing that I know who that is.
I knew you would, uh.
Speaker 5 (26:11):
And then I hop in an uber and go back
to pulling to get my car and drive home. So
that's how I, you know, ended the second half of
my day was working, uh, you know, doing these tasks
because you know, anything that we can do to get
these cars ready faster and make sure that this is
going smooth, it is going to be good for our nonprofit.
And I want it to keep going because I want
to give away as many cars as possible throughout the years.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
And two of them are going to be given away
at rad Revival, which will be at the the end
of the Cup two weekends to two weeks from this weekend.
Speaker 5 (26:39):
Right, Yeah, it's November. First, Halloween's on Friday, and then
this is like Halloween two.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
So first right, so to two of the foster kids
are gonna are going to be given two vehicles, which
is awesome, but it's also a party, and it's it's
eighties and nineties. This is uh, this is right in
my wheehouse. You and I are around the same age.
I think we are the same age. So like there's
something about the eighties that we didn't quite get to
experience enough to where I feel like I belong in
the eighties and the nineties. Of course that's what we
(27:05):
grew up in. I mean eighties nineties party, Paris Town.
I mean this is this is the spot.
Speaker 5 (27:11):
To be second year of it, right, this will be
the third year, okay, third year yeah, so it's gonna
be great. So eighties and nineties. We're asking people to
dress up in your favorite eighties and nineties either like
style or maybe movie character, TV character.
Speaker 4 (27:26):
A lot of options, yes, so dress up creative.
Speaker 5 (27:28):
From five to I believe ten PM, Paris Town. We
have about one hundred and twenty five cars in this
particular show. We limit it to eighties and nineties cars only,
So if you got a seventy nine. It wasn't in
it's got two thousand. Sorry, can't be there.
Speaker 4 (27:43):
This is close to club here, this is.
Speaker 5 (27:44):
For the Golden era. We're gonna have some trunk or treating,
live music, food. It's a whole vibe. And I heard
that you're gonna be down there. Yeah, possibly checking the vibe.
Speaker 4 (27:55):
I hope.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
So, I mean, look, eighties and nineties that's where the
best vibes were. I mean a lot of people think
that their era that they grew up in, that that
was that was the best.
Speaker 4 (28:03):
They're wrong. I'd say eighties nineties is the best.
Speaker 5 (28:05):
One thing specifically that I'm gonna have there. One we're
gonna give away like five hundred pre T shirts, So
come get your pre T shirt find me. But I
have a Blitz ninety nine stand up arcade machine.
Speaker 4 (28:17):
Oh yeah, now we're talking, so I'm bringing it.
Speaker 5 (28:19):
I'm gonna bring my little electronic generator and if you
want to get on the sticks, you know, we.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
Always absolutely Yeah, I'm gonna start thinking it just different.
I mean, I don't know what I'm gonna dress up as.
Speaker 4 (28:29):
I'm'n have to have. My wife helped me out with that.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
But like, there's just I look forward to finding like
a forgotten thing from the eighties or nineties. That would
be a nice, you know, nice nice conversation starter at
the party. Right.
Speaker 4 (28:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (28:39):
I've even called people I know that work at Coca
Cola to see like, is there any way that you
could get us like surge, Like do you guys have
any way to like print something? And they're like, dude,
get out of here.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
I remember how to get some crystal PEPSI there'd be
halfway to dream, halfway through a surge, and I felt
like my heart was going to explode as like an
eight year old. Luckily I survived.
Speaker 4 (28:57):
Now, kids say are drinking?
Speaker 1 (28:58):
Yes, the kids today are too soft to drink serg Right,
they're just they're not. We were built different back then,
at least that's the way I like to look at it.
But Alex, appreciate you stopping in. We look forward to
having you back here in a couple of weeks and
thank you for all that you do. And we appreciate you,
my man.
Speaker 4 (29:10):
We'll see November first at rad Revival.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
That's right, all right, let's get to a quick time out.
We've got sports updates coming your way. Also, you know,
the drill trafficking weather, and also coming up at eight o'clock,
eight oh five, I should say we'll be joined by
Mayor Greenberg right here on news Radio eight forty whas
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