10 questions. Funny Business

• Author: Jenny B. Davis
• Pages: 12-13

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CAMPAIGN FOR EQUAL JUSTICE

Funny

Business

This stand-up comedian and

Oregon lawyer stands up against

sexual harassment

Who thinks Mitr a Shahri is funny?

For starters, her collea gues and

judges—she’s twice earned the

coveted title “Funn iest Lawyer in

Oregon” at the statewide Ca mpaign

for Equal Justice’s Laf-O lawyer

comedy competition. An am ateur

humor writer and sta nd-up comedian,

she also extends her f unny business to

keynote and corpora te legal speaking.

Who doesn’t think Shahr i is funny?

Defendants who have lost to her in

cases involving se xual harassment

and whistleblowing. As a s olo practi-

tioner in Los Angeles for many yea rs,

Shahri took on the mov ie industry

long before the Me Too movement,

and she continues her advocacy a s

head of the Mitra Law Group, a

three-lawyer fi rm in Por tland.

Have you always been fu nny,

or did you develop your sense

of humor over time?

In Los Angeles, I wa s known as

the “casting couch lawyer.” In no

time I developed a loud sense of

humor to survive the weight of my

clients’ pain and the abuse a nd sexism

in the male-domin ated and chau-

vinistic lega l profession. Perfecting

my stand-up routine on defense

lawyers and the cour t was my

clever way of dealing with t he

problem without a ecting my clients.

I later used my talents to c heer up

and empower my clients during litiga-

tion, most of whom were disappointed

when the process ended because t hey

were having so much fun! That’s

when I realized I’m good w ith people

—I know how to make them laugh

during tough situations. To hone my

craft, I st arted doing stand-up. My

best moments are when I use comedy

to torment sexual ha rassers during

depositions. Payback is a bitch!

I imagine being a l itigator is a

little like bei ng onstage, right?

Absolutely. I love talking to an

audience that can’t talk ba ck. I just

wish the opposing counsel wou ldn’t

heckle me so much.

When you’re competing for

Funniest L awyer in Oregon, do

you just go up and ri or do you

have a prepared routine?

For the Laf-O competitions, I usu-

ally take o a couple of weeks to wr ite

my jokes. I have so much fun craft ing

my jokes that I consider it a vacation.

What do you talk about? W hat

really slays t he crowd?

I talk about every thing from racism

and sexism to reversi ng the roles. My

stage personalit y is a strong female

attorney w ho kicks corporat e butts

with designer shoes. Being Ira nian, I

also have a whole set about foreigners

and national origin d iscrimination.

I love living in Oregon becau se it’s

the only state where I brag about

being Iranian just t o hide the fact

that I’m from Californ ia.

Do you ever incorporate hu mor

into your law prac tice?

It really incorporate s itself. When

you go against rich a nd powerful

o enders, you bring on the wrath

of several big law fi rms. The only

way to survive t heir legal tag-teaming

is to have your wits about you. Ea rly

in my practice I lear ned that my Order

of the Coif, law review and moot c ourt

certifi cates did not sway the menta lity

of opposing counsel who only saw me

as a young, weak minorit y female

and an easy ta rget to demean and

intimidate. The joke was on them ,

however, because my strong, kick-ass,

take-no-prisoner side slayed thei r

clients’ reputations and dipped

deep in their co ers.

My fi rst case was again st a lawyer

I idolized. He called to d iscuss the

case and began w ith insulting my

legal ability and int elligence. He

laughed at my client, whom he called

average looking, for claiming se xual

harassment again st his rich client.

He then attempted to get me to

accept his $5,000 sett lement, which

he claimed was enough fees to p ay my

rent and buy me a nice pair of shoes.

When he fi nished, all I said was

‘OMG, I have to go because I just

realized that my t oenail polish doesn’t

match my outfi t!’ and I hung up.

Fast-forward, we set tled the case

for mid-six fi gures, and he later told

me he often calls young law yers to

intimidate them. But when I hung up

on him, I really got under hi s skin.

I’m sure it didn’t hur t that you

had a good case. In f act, you’re well-

known for prov iding an incred ible

level of detail in your i nitial plead-

ings. Tell me about your proc ess.

I have never subscribed to the the -

ory that a complaint is just a “snea k

peek.” My complaints are like a movie

script. They’re 3D. Even though I trust

my clients I don’t just take their word

for it. We talk to witnesses , gather

documents a nd reconstruct the t ime-

line. I don’t tone down o ensive facts.

It takes us months to prepare

the case before fi ling as if it’s rea dy

for trial. I ty pically fi rst send the

employer the draft complaint, e xhib-

its, witness st atements and a cover

letter, which I call a “ love package,”

inviting them to att end prelitigation

mediation. Majority of my clients

settle their ca ses without the stress

of litigation. But if the other side is

unreasonable, then hell hat h no fury

like a woman haras sed.

“THE FINEST LAWYERS FEEL

FOR THEIR CLIENTS , AND THAT

PASSION HELPS THEM SUCCEED.”

—MITRA SHAHRI

12 || ABA JOURNAL SEPTEMBER 2018

Opening Statements

10 QUESTIONS