By Brian Ross Burnham
What can I say about Brice Crafton? To start out with, full disclosure, Brice has been a very close personal friend and confidant of mine for many years. He is definitely one of the most compelling multifaceted people I have ever had the pleasure to know. I enjoy every minute I spend with him. A highly successful top attorney in town with a thriving law firm. Everyone who’s anyone, already knows this fact. Specializing in personal injury cases, I can attest without a doubt, that he treats his clients with personal attention and with the utmost respect. However, his professional livelihood is only half of his life story. Once you get to know him well, you realize he is so much more than that. His personal attributes and life experiences more than outweigh his business successes. He is a providing and caring father, a loving attentive husband, and a loyal and sincere friend to so many. Both he and his lovely wife Lesley, who is also a distinctly accomplished attorney in her own right, are always the vibrant fun loving couple to hang out with. Never a dull moment in the presence of these two. Brice and Lesley make the perfect entertaining companions. Whether over an intimate dinner, a gathering at their elegant home or traveling with them in Europe. To socialize with the Crafton’s is second to none. And I recommend it highly. We recently hung out in the Arts District, one of his favorite neighborhoods in Las Vegas and caught up with a Q&A interview.
BRB: Good Gaawwd!! Ok my man. I can’t believe I’m interviewing you. I know so much about you, I don’t even know where to begin.
BC: Right?! We’ve talked about this for a while now. Excited it’s finally happening!
BRB: So, let’s start with this. You are my favorite person to text almost every day.
BC: Right back at you, Brian. And thank you for putting up with me for so long. I’ve been in Vegas for almost 25 years now and I have known you for most of those.
BRB: We send each other funny memes or whatever all the time and we laugh at the same things. It makes my day.
BC: Same, my guy, same. Finding someone with a similar warped and inappropriate sense of humor is priceless.
BRB: Some things that we laugh about can never be disclosed publicly. Hahaha!
BC: I plead the Fifth.
BRB: Of course, you do. You’re an attorney. Hahaha!! I have to tell you; you do have the best sense of humor. For those that don’t know you, what really makes you laugh? Besides me. Lol.
BC: I like my jokes like I like my coffee… the darker the better. Lol. In all seriousness, nothing makes me laugh harder than a cheesy dad joke. Probably because I get the most pleasure out of seeing how hard I can get my kids’ eyes to roll.
BRB: Can I honestly tell you one of my favorite things about you?
BC: My obsession with karaoke?
BRB: Besides that. Hahaha.
BC: Well now I’m at a loss.
BRB: To be honest. I love the journey of your life so far. From how you grew up, all the way to where you’ve ended up today.
BC: Yeah, I’m quite a distance from the potato and grain fields in Idaho that I grew up in. Lol. Where I came from is one of the things I am most proud of. My upbringing instilled in me a work ethic that drives me even to this day. A sense of community and service to those in need, as well as the importance of living a life of integrity. I think it was Abraham Lincoln who’s attributed with saying “Whatever you are, be a good one.” It’s taken me 46 years of highs and lows, success and failures, mistakes and getting things right to learn that I don’t have to be perfect to be my best version, as long as I am never ok with mediocrity. I’m not even close to being done. My best days are ahead of me.
BRB: Yes!!! OMG, I love that. It’s the American dream. Here’s something I don’t know about you. What’s your most memorable childhood memory?
BC: Gosh, that’s a tough one. I guess one that pops to the front of my mind is when I was 12, I almost rolled my dad’s pick-up truck.
BRB: Wait. You were driving when you were 12?
BC: Of course. Most of us in rural Idaho learned to drive the moment we could reach the pedals. I was tasked to jump into my father’s fairly new Chevy 1500 truck, and I followed a procession of combines, tractors and semi-trucks down a winding dirt road. I had fallen behind and put the pedal to the metal to catch up. It wasn’t long before I sped around a tight corner and lost control, fishtailing off the road and into a cow pasture.
BRB: Whaaat?!
BC: And I slammed through a railroad tie fence post and wrapped barbed wire around the truck, slicing the front end and the fenders to shreds. Miraculously, I was able to get the truck restarted and drive what seemed like an eternity to break the news to my dad. After making sure I wasn’t hurt, I heard a few words my mom wouldn’t have been happy to hear out of her husband’s mouth (especially directed towards her favorite child).
BRB: They were taking your license away? Hahaha
BC: Hahaha! Worse. I was told that I’d be “donating” my wages until the repairs were paid off. Luckily for me, before an estimate could even take place and less than a week later, my dad totaled the pick-up when a big mule deer buck darted in front of him. Dad walked away without a scratch; the deer and the truck were not so lucky. Most important I was let off the hook for the repairs. But I did learn a valuable lesson.
BRB: What was the lesson? Maybe don’t drive at age 12?
BC: No. Always accelerate through the turns. Lol.
BRB: Good Gaaawwd!! Hahaha! Ok. We’ve now come to my favorite part. Rapid Fire Questions. Are you ready?
BC: Let’s go!!
BRB: Let’s start with what makes you truly happy?
BC: My wife and kids. All six of them. That may seem like the low hanging fruit answer, but it’s true.
BRB: Favorite NFL team? BTW I already know the answer. LOL
BC: Well, that’s a stupid question. Miami Dolphins baby!! I have an office in Miami.
BRB: Go Dolphins!!
BC: It’s hard being a Dolphins fan lately. It’s also been hard being a Raiders fan lately.
BRB: I feel your pain for that one. But the Raiders can only improve from here. Lol.
Favorite designer? I know that’s also a stupid question. Hahaha
BC: John Varvatos. I stumbled upon JV in Detroit, back in 2015 and have never looked back.
BRB: Yep JV. “Back in Black” I’ve seen your closet. Lol.
Best travel destination?
BC: Ooh, that’s difficult. My favorite destination I’ve been to with my wife has to be Rome. My jaw was on the floor the entire 48 hours we were there. They call it the Eternal City for good reason. I want to go back and stay at least 10 times as long.
BRB: Favorite Michelin star restaurant experience?
BC: Hmmmm.
BRB: You better say the back patio of Pavyllon off the Champs-Elysees overlooking the museum gardens, where you and Lesley and I had dinner in Paris. Lol
BC: Ahhhh. Of course. I haven’t been to many Michelin star restaurants, but definitely the most memorable one was with you in Paris. Food was excellent, company was even better. And to top it all off, I met Steve Nash, NBA Hall of Famer, on the way to the restroom. Turns out he was there dining with Dirk Nowitski and some other players. And by the way didn’t Nowitski try to steal our cab after dinner that night?
BRB: Yes! He did try and jack our ride. I think I said something to him like “We’d be happy to share OUR taxi with you. But you’re too damn tall. You’ll never fit.” Hahaha
BC: Exactly! He laughed. At least he wasn’t an ass about it.
BRB: I can only end this conversation with “You are definitely in a league of extraordinary gentlemen. You always make me smile. It’s truly a pleasure and a privilege to call you a close friend.”
BC: Likewise! You are a gentleman and a baller/scholar. Still have Nash and Nowtiski on the brain. Lol Never a dull moment with you, my friend.
BRB: Hahaha! And by the way, I could keep talking with you about anything and everything and do this for days. We never run out of things to talk about.
BC: Same. You know, we may need our own Podcast. Why haven’t we done a podcast yet? Let’s make it happen!
BRB: A podcast??? Hell yes!!! Let’s Go!!!
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