The world is moving at a rapid pace, and you’re either moving along or getting left behind. One of the greatest physical evidence of these changes can be seen in our infrastructures. Here to take you on a journey of the transformations in America’s infrastructures is Marc Gravely. He is the founder of Gravely Attorneys and Counselors and the author of the book, Reframing America’s Infrastructures. Discussing opposite host Eric Anderton, Marc shares with us what he thinks are broken about the infrastructure in the country and what we can do to fix them. He dives deep into energy-efficient infrastructures along with the main innovations he sees happening in the next 10 to 20 years that construction companies need to be aware of. Take advantage of the information Marc shares by tuning in to this conversation.
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Transforming America’s Infrastructure: A Journey From Decline To Revival With Marc Gravely
My guest is Marc Gravely. Marc is an attorney based out of Texas. He is the author of the book, Reframing America’s Infrastructure – A Ruins to Renaissance Playbook. Marc has a deep interest in the history of infrastructure in the United States and the future of infrastructure. Since contractors share a similar interest, particularly in the future of infrastructure, I thought I’d bring Marc on to discuss what’s broken about the infrastructure here in America and specific things we can do to fix that with a view to how contractors can get on the front foot and get out in front of some of the innovations that are happening so that they can take advantage of them and influence those innovations.
Together, we can do what we can to strengthen the infrastructure of our country. Enjoy my interview with Marc. Feel free to share that with other people who you think would benefit from reading this interview. As always, please give the show a rating or a review wherever you get your shows. Thanks for reading, and enjoy my conversation with Marc.
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Marc, welcome to the show.
Eric, thanks for having me.
It’s my pleasure. You have a book out called Reframing America’s Infrastructure – A Ruins to Renaissance Playbook. As you’ve done a lot of thinking around this and your book is quite extensive, but why do you think our infrastructure is broken here in the United States?
A lot of it’s not broken, but there’s a fair amount of it that is, and probably more that is than people would like to comfortably think about. Bridges shouldn’t collapse. That’s something we can all agree on. Buildings should be energy efficient. Things should be done in a thoughtful manner. That doesn’t always happen. People go about building or designing parts of the infrastructure, whether it be roads or bridges, buildings, parks, and even power grids. It’s all part of our infrastructure. It’s the structure and the substance of our daily lives when we’re outside of our homes.
There’s a lot of it that’s right. The planning and execution of the interstate highway system were miraculous when the federal government passed the law that said, “Here’s what we’re going to do.” President Eisenhower signed into law that increased the efficiencies that we have of transportation and transporting products. A lot of people don’t think about it like that.
Let me take you back in time to Eisenhower. That’s going to be in the early ’50s.
After World War II, yes.
Why do you think that went forward at that time where when we think of infrastructure these days, all we think of is gridlock and promises? Something was supposed to happen under Trump, but nothing happened. Something’s supposed to happen under Biden, but nothing’s happening yet. Why under Ike did it move forward?
It took the federal government and a lot of vision to get that going, but the fact is after World War II, everyone was united. The American people such as us were united in effort. It was a time for fresh ideas. If you’ll recall, there was a lot of technology that was used and came out, and it was developed during and after World War II, like the atomic bomb, V2-rocket, tanks, and submarines. People were accustomed to seeing great leaps in technology.
The idea that we could have our own American autobahn or an extensive system appealed to people and businesses. There was the political will to get it done. That’s one of the huge reasons that it got passed. I don’t know what the vote was on the house floor. There are so many of those these days that don’t count. The will of the people was there, and we had a leader who was allowed to lead.
It’s interesting because we were promised flying cars, and all we got was an iPhone. The iPhones are cool. I was goofing around on the latest chat AI that’s cool, but it’s not revolutionizing or dramatically transforming people’s lives. What technologies do you think are underutilized at the moment that could have a tremendous positive impact on the building of our infrastructure or the rebuilding of it?
There are a couple of things, depending on the infrastructure you’re talking about. For example, the Texas power grid is an example. It’s one of our biggest states and has a lot of personalities. Everybody likes to watch what’s going on in Texas sometimes. The power grid was having some problems when a lot of people needed power a few winters ago. Texas is the only state who has a standalone power grid. It’s a great example both in a positive way and a negative way.
The algorithms or the decision trees used to make design decisions on power grids are one big thing. Maybe a more advanced version of AI on your app there, but that can contribute to the constructive design of a power grid. Let’s not forget much of the power grid was installed decades ago and designed decades before. It’s an old design that doesn’t take advantage of a lot of new technologies. That’s one example from the question you asked.
Let me you about the political structure and if you have any views on this. We have the federal government and state governments. Can you think of a state that is doing more positive work on infrastructure rebuilding in comparison with the other states here in America?
California is doing a lot of great things. They’re trying to diversify their energy usage. They lead the nation in better building techniques and more stringent codes. The fact is that whether you believe greenhouse gases, global warming, or climate change, buildings use too much energy and they let too much of it out. When you heat or cool them, a lot of it escapes. I don’t know about you, but when I was growing up, my father repeatedly asked me and reminded me to close the front door because, “We’re not heating the neighborhood. We’re not cooling the front street.” I don’t think anyone that’s ever been a grown-up has had that.
That’s what happens when you don’t have a building that is energy efficient. California has led the way on that. It’s a little more expensive, takes longer to build, and is a little more of a headache, but that’s one example of some things that both residential and commercial builders have to do if we’re going to lessen our energy use. We can all agree that using less energy is better if we can do it. I hear people all the time say, “We’ve got 400 years’ worth of coal left or 2,000 years’ worth of oil.” How about we start being more efficient now so our great-grandchildren can still use some of that as long as the alternative methods get developed along the way?
I’m curious about California because I live in California in Sacramento. One of the things I do is drive down the 99 and go down to LA at times or the Central Valley to visit my clients. As I’m going down the Southern part of the Central Valley, I see the high-speed railroad. What I see is not the high-speed railroad, but I see this chunk of overpass that they’ve built, and that’s all they’ve built. It’s in the middle of nowhere, basically going nowhere.
To me, that’s a testament to a lot of the challenges that we have with the infrastructure rebuilding or renaissance, as you call it, in America. It’s this the high costs. I understand there are high costs involved with some of these regulations and stuff, but the high cost of building combined with the political gridlock. Every time we talk about infrastructure, people say, “That would be nice, but Marc, it’s not happening.”
I’m not going to jump on your bandwagon. Let’s be fair. In China, when they want to build a light rail from Beijing to Mongolia, they just do it because nobody owns any property there. The government owns the land. When they want to dictate what gets built, they just do it. We’ve seen great and fantastic things from Chinese construction and long-range planning. I’m sure you’re familiar with the Belt and Road Initiative. I’m sure they’re running into some financial problems, but the fact is that somebody there has had the vision to pull this thing off, and it’s happening.
They’re tying themselves to their neighboring countries and building a superhighway system with which to trade and travel. We know what happens when you do that. You become greater than the sum of the parts. You tie people together with different views, and different things to buy and sell, and you communicate with people. People get to go see their relatives who live in neighboring states or countries.
I need to disagree with you when you say you see part of a bridge that’s been built and think of gridlock. Light rail is appropriate for some areas of the country here in the United States, and it’s not appropriate, given the population densities. In some places, it’s going to work, and in some places, it will be built. Maybe it won’t, but we’ve got to try. The first thing we have to do is negotiate with people who own the land because it’s America after all, and we take the good with the bad, and we’re all here together, in my view. You’ve got to buy the land and people get to protest and say, “What about genetic diversity and biodiversity?” That’s what happens.
That’s part of the wonderful fits-and-starts American process. Not to get too constitutional on you, but it mirrors the fact that a minority can hold something up for a bit to say, “Are you sure?” It’s the equivalent of a devil’s advocate. For example, the Pope always assign a cardinal, the smartest one or the one that’s most respected, to argue the opposite of the position they want to take. That’s a bit far field, but when you see part of it hanging around, schedule aside or probable cost overruns aside, and let’s not forget that it’s a visionary thing that we can do here, ultimately, they’re going to help a lot of efficiencies when they’re finally installed.
Let’s explore that idea of vision here a little bit. The vision of the interstate highways is not simple to execute, but simple in its concept and something that people can grasp. The logic of it appeals to us in terms of, “Get on the road and go from Maine to California in 3 or 4 days.” That’s a tremendous thing right there. How would you articulate what the vision should be for this infrastructure renaissance that you’re describing in your book?
It depends on what piece you’re talking about. For example, there’s cyber infrastructure. That’s important. There are the energy-saving parts of the infrastructure that get passed by dictate or by code. The reason we have codes as standard is because they represent the minimum. Some would say a minimum to which something should be built. Highways are easy. Let’s think about it this way. It’s only been 80 years since the highway system was first started, and they’re always doing construction on it. Thank goodness, but it’s only been 80 years, and that’s just a generation.
The reason we have codes as standard is because they represent the minimum. Click To TweetOne of the things the federal government has done wisely in this most recent infrastructure bill is they let local control predominate. San Antonio, for example, “Here’s $500 million. You decide how you want it spent. Here are some parameters, but you decide what your community needs.” That mirrors part of the genius of the founders of the United States. The states get to run themselves. There’s a federal system. What’s acceptable in one state is not acceptable in another, and people get to vote. That’s pretty great.
I don’t disagree with you there. Let’s set aside the dynamic between federal, state, and local government for a moment. In your mind, what do you think is the number one infrastructure priority that America faces at the moment?
Data collection on habits and efficiencies is a valuable thing to collect. Autonomous or semi-autonomous cities are the way of the future. More people live in cities than live in the country. In smart cities, for example, there are sensors in a lot of places that can be connected to cars, transportation, to walkways. The Autonomy Institute and a guy named Jeff DeCoux in Austin, Texas, who’s a visionary, and you should check out the website, no affiliation, but the dude is killing it.
Autonomous or semi-autonomous cities are the way of the future. Click To TweetIf you’ll take a look at it, you should have him on your show. He’s on LinkedIn. He’s given lectures everywhere. The Autonomy Institute has different packages that cities can select from and menus of things to incorporate. Austin, Texas, for example, is in the midst of trying to implement some of the concepts, and it’s going to help efficiencies and effectiveness.
The next level of efficiency lies in our transportation systems. People are going to move around. It’s part of our fabric. There are truckers and flights, and so much commerce is done along our highways and byways that the increase in efficiency in this system is something we’ve got to have, even the railways, as ancient as that technology is. It’s a railway.
One of the richest men in the world bet on the railways about decades ago. You may have heard of him, Warren Buffet. He knows that transportation via railway is highly at their buckets that you haul stuff in. You can’t do that with people super efficiently. The car culture is not going anywhere in the US. Efficiency via smart cities and smart roads is the number one thing we can do along with energy savings in building design and building construction.
Give us a little bit more there on this idea of data collection on people’s habits so that those efficiencies can be pinpointed.
People’s travel habits, not personal travel habits, but big data helps us to know where we need to build highways. For example, there’s a new highway being built that hooks up two parts of Massachusetts, and it’s helping people save fuel. People aren’t going to stop driving. The roads are efficiently built and can continually evolve. As to locale, that’s the first step in gross observation. As we have more electric cars and more sophisticated cars that are powered differently, but with more sensors, we will be able to gather more data that will help us design better cars to get better mileage or safety features.
If you’ll recall, some years back, there weren’t side airbags. You can probably remember a time when there were no front airbags and safeties. My grandfather used to take me around and sit me in the middle of the console, and he smoked in the car. There were ashtrays. Are there trays in any cars you’ve been in lately?
There aren’t.
That’s the best example I can give you with data collecting because that’s not something I specifically get down to the nitty-gritty in, but that’s one example.
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I hope you’re enjoying my chat with Marc here. If we’re going to be able to fix the infrastructure, it means that construction companies have to function well and efficiently. That is a function of the efficiency and expertise of your leadership. That’s why my book, Construction Genius: Effective, Hands-On, Practical, Simple, No-BS Leadership, Strategy, Sales, and Marketing Advice for Construction Companies can be so useful to you.
A lot of people are doing is they’re buying the book for themselves and people in their team and leadership team. They then read a chapter a month together and discuss it in a short 30 to 45-minute meeting. Through that, they can think about how they can use and apply the strategies that I share in the book to help them to be a better leadership team. That’s the great thing about this book. It’s very practical. Buy the book for yourself and for the people on your leadership team. You won’t regret it. It’s an awesome read. Back to my conversation with Marc.
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Where do you think we’re making missteps in terms of our efforts to improve the infrastructure? Where are we missing the point or banging our heads up against a wall and are like, “Time out. This is not working?”
People, by nature, are slow to adapt. People like to be comfortable. Where we’re missing the boat is we need some experimental expenditures to see what works and what doesn’t. It’s no different from Thomas Edison trying to figure out which filament works the best. He went through hundreds, and when asked, “You’re banging your head against the wall.” He said, “No, I have 400 examples that I know won’t work.”
We need to engage and be a little more experimental in the design of both environmental and electronic buildings and transportation to see what does work. Only by doing and improving the concept can we know. It may sound silly, but it’s a very simple roundabout. I didn’t use to know and like them. They were confusing to me like a caveman with fire. Now, I know how to use a roundabout, but many years ago, I had never seen a roundabout.
I’m from Europe, so I’m very familiar with roundabouts. When they’re starting to come in in America and every time I see one, I get all excited.
You’re like, “Look. Another roundabout.”
It was a trip. I was down in Pasadena not so long ago, and right by my friend’s house, there’s this sweet roundabout. The problem is they’ve got stop signs. This is so dumb. They have stop signs on each one of the entrances into the roundabout, which defeats the whole purpose more or less.
That’s a great example of something new that people have to learn to utilize. It’s like your chatbot. It’s new, and I used it often, and it’s been awful for me. I’ve asked questions, and they’re wrong, but people have to learn how to use it and make it a habit.
That’s very interesting because you take the concept of a roundabout, which is a relatively simple one. It is a little counterintuitive, but once you get it, it’s okay. They can so simply screw it up. When we go back to the World War II example, the reason why so much innovation happens during wartime is because of necessity, “We’ve got to figure out a way to be able to survive and kill the other guy. We’re going to be as innovative and try stuff out and all this stuff.”
There’s something about necessity being the mother of invention. I don’t know.
It’s interesting because it seems we’re stuck in this malaise. Maybe it’s my perspective and I’m off here. Where are you seeing this experimental expenditure happening that’s moving the ball down the field as it relates to infrastructure that might be pertinent to construction companies?
I wish I had more examples for you, but there is one place that isn’t infrastructure-focused that is a great experiment that is happening that is succeeding beyond people’s wildest dreams. That is Peter Thiel’s $100,000 scholarship for people who decide to skip college. Take a look at what the people that they have chosen for that are achieving. It will blow your mind.
Remember, here in the United States, it’s a little different from Europe. A lot of people are expected to go to college, and everyone shouldn’t go to college. Some people are expected to go into the trades, and some of those people shouldn’t be in the trades, but the fact is that’s where much of the magic happens. It’s the trades and the actual building of them. Some of the most respected German tradesmen build Mercedes and Porsche engines. They do it with their hands and innovate.
Many discoveries and patents have come out of the men and women that work with their hands. As far as successes, the Peter Thiel program has been astounding. I’m surprised it hasn’t gotten more press. I wish there was a laboratory like that infrastructure, but as it happens, the advances happen in fits and starts.
For example, in building science, more efficiencies are developed at the university level, but they’re not adopted because, “This is the other way that we’ve always done things, and it’s going to cost more. How am I going to do that? Who’s going to implement that?” One of the things that have to happen is the men and women responsible for building things who get paid billions of dollars have to embrace change. They have to maybe make a little less money and hire people that don’t think like them like a chief innovation officer at a general contractor. Have you ever heard of one? Maybe there are.
They’re coming in. They’re not exactly named that, but the larger general contractors are beginning to very much think in these ways.
That’s great to know. Hiring someone that thinks differently from you in an organization like that is a big key to trying new things. The owner has to agree with you. Most owners are pretty forward-thinking and can afford a $2 million problem. If it’s a choice they made, that’s not going to work out, but we gave it a try.
iring someone that thinks differently from you in an organization is a big key to trying new things. Click To TweetI would push back against that because from talking with construction companies, one of the big challenges is I have an owner and I’ve got a new way of doing a project, but it’s going to maybe take a little more time and cost a little bit more money. The owners are like, “I want my building built.” Here in California, for instance, I know we’ve got to build it to code. It’s interesting what you were saying. By regulation, there’s this innovation happening because if you don’t do it, then your building won’t pass inspection.
Many owners are doing the bare essentials. That’s where it falls back on the contractors, the GCs, and the subs to be able to be in a secured enough position where they’re not just going from project to project, but they can then set aside time, money, and human capital to look at these innovations and begin to think about how they can implement these kinds of changes in their business.
Architects used to be cutting-edge. “I’m an architect,” both the good and the bad. “I’m an engineer. I’m here to help you.” Also, know that comes with good and bad. Let’s be equally fair to everybody. The general contractor, “We’d like to do this one a little differently. How much is that going to cost me?” Everyone’s trying to do their best, but innovation can happen despite the owner’s reticence sometimes, but by and large, hiring people that think differently from you are something general contractors can do and still meet most of the owner’s requirements from a utility standpoint.
Let’s wave magic our wand. Let’s assume by some miracle that we get the funding mechanisms right and enough political will, vision, and leadership. There’s that balance between the federal, the state, and the locals. It begins to get worked out. What are the main innovations that you see happening in the next 10 to 20 years in infrastructure that construction companies need to be aware of so that they can get ahead of the curve, and make sure that they’re there to help build those projects?
Number one is computer-aided fill-in-the-blank. That’s a big deal. There are economies of scale that can be achieved there in some disciplines and respects. Number two, buildings and infrastructure that doesn’t use as much energy. I’m talking about enclosures meant for work or manufacturing and industrial foreplay.
Enclosures that use less energy are a huge thing that simply has to happen. If we don’t do it soon, we’re going to have to do it at some point. Probably not in our lifetimes, but that’s got to happen, and more energy efficiency. There are lead certifications and stuff like that, but we’re beyond that now. That’s a nice gold star to have. I frankly question if some of the stuff that has it, “Is it really? I don’t think it is. It’s not.” The biggest thing is energy efficiency.
If I could waive my magic wand, we need more skilled labor. There’s not enough skilled labor. Here in Texas, some of the most skilled craftsmen I’ve seen in my life come up from Mexico and then go back home, but there are not a million of those guys. Skilled labor is something we need from people who care about the work they do. That’s the business I’m in. I see what happens when things go wrong. It’s easy to know that there’s not enough skilled labor out there to get the work done.
We’re always looking forward in terms of the development of technologies and new ways of thinking and doing things. At the beginning of the interview, we glance back at the 1940s and 1950s with the building of the American Highway System. What are some other specific lessons from the past that we might lay hold of where there was a tremendous change in terms of technology that impacted infrastructure that we should be looking at as case studies for how we should be moving forward in terms of developing our infrastructure in the present day?
If I can turn it around and rephrase it a little bit, it’s, “What has the construction industry learned in the past that it must embrace more in the future?”
Yes. We talked about the highway system, which was a radical infrastructure change. What are some other radical infrastructure changes that have occurred that would be analogous to where we need to go and might help us in the way that we think about the changes we need to make?
From a power standpoint, there have been huge advances in power generation and power efficiencies. We talked a little bit about the power grids and how everybody receives their power. There’s been huge innovation in wind energy. I’m sure there are some stories about it not working out, but by and large, it is efficient. It does work out. You’ve seen the wind farms in California. There’s much more to be done there with the constant motion of the sea as far as capturing and transmitting energy. There’s a lot of that going on.
It hasn’t all of which or at least most of which hasn’t trickled down yet to a lot of folks. What we’ve learned is the answer is not the same for everybody when it comes to power. Sometimes the answer may be nuclear, which we haven’t embraced that Europe. China’s building 28 nuclear power plants in the next couple of years. You can bet they’ll be finished.
Where we get our power, how we get it, and how we use it is the fundamental thing that drives every single bit of what we do. Without the power to power the drills, to power the steam shovels, to make the steel, to help mix the concrete, it all goes back to local, and we start living in city states and villages. Without the power and all the dependents we have, its generation and delivery, you’ll see nations crumble if those answers aren’t sought out.
If you were to articulate a vision for the infrastructure of the United States in a simple phrase or sentence that most people could understand, how would you do that?
We’ve got to do what works or what we have found works in the past. We have to discard what doesn’t. We have to be extremely utilitarian and realistic about what works and what doesn’t for different parts of the country. For that, I’m talking about every part of the infrastructure, whether it’s power, roads, bridges, or our waterways. We have to embrace what works, discard what doesn’t, and understand that different regions and different cities will have different solutions perhaps. One size doesn’t fit all.
What happens many times is that construction company owners, by nature, are reactive to what’s coming from the regulations and the economy. That’s very appropriate, but how can a construction company owner or president become proactive in light of getting on the front foot when it comes to these infrastructure changes that are going to be occurring?
I have to start this answer by telling you that I believe folks that build stuff are a different breed because it’s always amazed me and it’s most basic that a person with a pickup and shovel can build something wonderful, whether it’s a house, you name it. I’ve seen it happen. I’ve seen huge companies start off with a guy with a shovel and a pickup truck. It’s miraculous. It gets down to will and vision. You and I both know that every person reading this who is in the general contracting business is focused on, “Where’s my next project coming from? How do I close out the last?” That’s no different than a man or a woman knowing, “I’ve got to have food and water.”
Those are the first two things, and you can’t begrudge that. What they need to know is if they will somehow and someway think about things in a little different way or take a different approach from time to time, maybe the next building they build can be more energy efficient. How do they measure that? How can they brag about it? Wouldn’t you like to be the first guy on your general contractor metaphorical block to build a better mouse trap or tweaked something and figure it out?
It’s a tough task because, in many senses, construction’s a simple thing. Building an envelope, although it can be an engineering structure, is not complicated. There’s no thrust-to-weight ratio that needs to be calculated like when you’re launching a rocket. Make friends with the local university construction science guys and talk about what they’ve heard. Go to dinner with them. Those are friends that will broaden your horizon. You could hire them as a little bit of a consultant here and there. They’d like that. You certainly got the money for it because there’s a tremendous amount of money to be made in building stuff, which is great. Be friends with your local university building science guy. Pick a couple that you like or gal and ask them and let them be the person that helps you think differently.
It’s interesting, too, that the best contractors I find, or the most innovative ones are ones who embrace the political realities that we’ve been describing here. They seek to build relationships at the local level, the state level, and if possible, at the federal level so that they can have at least some influence through associations or through their personal relationships that can help drive some of that infrastructure spending in a particular direction.
I agree with you. Those are the most effective because they have people skills they can see over the horizon. At its most basic level, it’s sending some money our way so we can build some cool stuff for the people that live near me.
Marc, tell us a little bit more about the work that you do and how people can get in touch with you.
Eric, I’m a lawyer. I have a national practice, and all I do in that practice are two things. I represent owners. I don’t represent general contractors, architects, and engineers. I only represent owners for construction defects and delays. I only work on a contingency basis. I’m the only lawyer of my type that I know of. The second part of my practice is I also represent the institutional owner or large property owners against their insurance companies when they have a covered insurance loss and the insurance company won’t make them whole. I’ll tell you what. We are busy.
I represent high rises, museums, and large hospital systems. The key to what I do is, on the construction defect side, I help the general contractor’s liability insurance carrier understand that it needs to pay or typically not after what I call the general contractor’s real money and got some retainage or hold back the road. I’m not there to get that, but I know how to trigger the insurance coverage they have to make it as least painful as I can for everybody.
You’ve heard me say glowing things about general contractors, wonderful architects, and wonderful engineers and there are many good people, just because you make a mistake doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. People do make mistakes, and that’s why we have insurance. My job is recovering costs to prepare owners for nonconforming work.
How did that all lead to you writing that book, Reframing America’s Infrastructure?
We represent owners all the time in all facets, large projects, massive projects, and medium projects. It just began to come together for me that the infrastructure here in America is such an important part of everything we do and a part of our nation. I knew a lot of examples of poor construction. As a matter of fact, you can go to Kirkus Reviews and read the review, which is easier than reading the book, Kirkus says that, “Gravely cites an unnerving number of examples of poor construction,” and that’s the stuff that makes it to the news. There are 1,000 footnotes. There wasn’t a book out there like this. If you can find one, I’d love to see it, but it was my COVID project.
I decided to write a book about the soaring vision of what America’s infrastructure could be. I talked a little bit about the history of infrastructure in ancient societies. There are still Roman bridges standing now that are used. I talked about other problems because it’s popular. I talk about a lot of construction problems. There are a bunch of examples of them. I talked about some of the visionaries that will help pull us through this like Dr. Michael, who helped calculate the risks of multiple pipelines in the Western US. Jeffrey DeCoux from Autonomy Institute is some of the visionaries I talk about in the book.
How can people get in touch with you?
They can email me at [email protected] and you can go to Gravely.law. I’ve got a new website popping up. People are free to email me with questions. I’ve got a couple of free books on the site they can download. One is called Construction Quality Audits. It’s free to download. It’s a service free service we offer to owners. We’ll come in after a building’s finished after the punch list and do a quality audit and then give a report to the owner. There’s another book or two about how to pursue hospital defects cost of repair recovery.
You’ve litigated before the Texas Supreme Court a number of times. Tell us your most interesting experience while you were doing that.
We’ve represented policyholders against insurance companies for property damage to the Supreme Court, either as amicus counsel or party counsel about that many times. One of my most interesting cases was we represented a group of trade groups. The insurance industry was trying to get some policy language changed so they didn’t have to pay as much money.
Our clients included the Texas Hospital Association, Texas Hotel and Lodging Association, the Texas Apartment Association, cities and counties, and even the independent bankers, to let the Supreme Court know that, “Please don’t give into the industry. People pay billions and premiums every year in Texas. Please don’t rule away,” because they have a ruling. We’re able to greatly influence the court and bring some gravitas to bear and let everyone know what all these property-owning trade groups who spent billions of dollars a year in premiums.
Marc, I appreciate you joining me on the show. Thanks again for giving us your insights here.
Thanks, Eric. Take care.
You too.
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Thank you for reading my interview with Marc Gravely. Make sure you check out his book, Reframing America’s Infrastructure – A Ruins to Renaissance’s Playbook, and feel free to connect with him. As always, share the show with other people who you think would benefit from listening to it. I appreciate you reading this, and I’ll catch you on the next episode.
Important Links
- Reframing America’s Infrastructure – A Ruins to Renaissance Playbook
- Construction Genius: Effective, Hands-On, Practical, Simple, No-BS Leadership, Strategy, Sales, and Marketing Advice for Construction Companies
- Kirkus Reviews
- [email protected]
- Gravely.law
- Construction Quality Audits
- https://MarcGravely.com/
- https://www.LinkedIn.com/in/MarcGravely/
- https://Twitter.com/MarcGravely
About Marc Gravely
His innovative approach to the field has earned him recognition as a Plaintiffs Law Trailblazer by the National Journal and a Texas Trailblazer by Texas Lawyer Magazine. He is also a renowned author in the field, his bestselling book “Reframing America’s Infrastructure – A Ruins to Renaissance Playbook” solidifies him as a prominent authority, it is a “fascinating exercise in informed futurism” as per one editorial review.
Gravely is a frequent lecturer on construction and insurance issues, and his recent presentation on the topic at MENSA’s World Gathering sparked conversations from Washington D.C. to Silicon Valley. With his wealth of experience and knowledge in the field, he is a respected voice in the legal industry, providing valuable insights and solutions to the complex problems that arise in construction and insurance litigation.
