S2:E36 Alison LaValley and Trent Cotney - Decks to Dockets 2020 - PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of an interview with Alison LaValley with NRCA and Trent Cotney with Cotney Construction Law. You can read the interview below or listen to the podcast here.

Heidi Ellsworth: Hello and welcome into another Roofing Road Trips with Heidi. I am so excited to be here today and having all of you listen to this podcast because we have two of the most amazing leaders in the roofing industry on this podcast today. We have Alison LaValley, with NRCA, and Trent Cotney, with Cotney Construction Law. Welcome you two.

Alison LaValley: Thank you, Heidi.

Trent Cotney: Thank you.

Alison LaValley: Glad to be here.

Trent Cotney: Thank you for having us.

Heidi Ellsworth: You guys have been friends forever. I love what you're doing out there and so much has happened in this last year that it is just really, I don't know... I'm looking at all the things that happened with COVID, but really between you two and your organizations, it has really brought all the information we need to the industry. So before we really get into why we're here today, which is the legal conference put on by NRCA Legal, I would like to start out, and maybe, Alison, you can introduce yourself a little bit. Tell us a little bit about your many years with NRCA and also just where things are. I think we've had a lot happening this year with NRCA with COVID and everything else. So just give us a little update on what's happened.

Alison LaValley: Sure. I'd be glad to. Thanks, Heidi. As Heidi said, my name's Alison LaValley. I am the vice president of strategic partnerships and member services at NRCA. I had been with NRCA most of my life and I'm very grateful for that. It's been 33 years of being able to provide a lot of education and training and developing friendships in what is truly an amazing industry. As part of my role at NRCA, I also oversee the NRCA Legal Resource Center. I know we're going to be talking about our annual conference and that conference is something that we actually have produced for 40 years, believe it or not. I have not attended every one, I wish I had, but they've always been in person events typically in September or October, over the course of three days that we've brought people together. Typically we've had anywhere from probably 75 to 150 people attend. But what I'm really excited about with this year, it's unfortunate for all of us with so many things going on in this truly unusual and often challenging year, that we are not able to get together for this year's legal conference. But because of the welfare, we're worried about the welfare of our attendees and making sure everyone remains safe. Instead of being live in Austin this October, we're going virtual. Now we've re-booked for Austin for next year, so hopefully we'll be able to gather and have conversations like we're all desperately missing these days. But what's unique about this year's virtual conference, and I'm sure Trent will add to this and feels much the same, is that we're able to reach a broader audience because honestly, in a virtual setting, we are able to come to you in your home, if you're in the office, if you're on your mobile device, in your car and want to catch some quick education, maybe between jobs. So we're able to come to you on multiple platforms. If you're in your office and a couple of you are registered and a couple more come in to join in, that's all good, too because we're really trying to reach as many commercial, residential contractors, subcontractors, architects, engineers, the manufacturing and distribution community. We've got nine programs set up that really can affect all of your businesses, which I know we'll get into in more detail. But I'm really excited about the virtual opportunity and the outreach and how many people we're going to be able to affect with this education this year, Heidi.

Heidi Ellsworth: I am too, Alison. I think you guys have done just such an amazing job of really bringing NRCA Legal to the forefront and getting it presented in a way that's going to be very accessible to so many people in the roofing industry. I'm very excited, Trent, because Trent, for any of you listening who may not know, but Trent Cotney and Cotney Construction Law are the general counsels for NRCA. They work with NRCA every single day. Trent, I'm probably stealing your thunder but I just had to say it. So tell us a little bit about you and your company and what's going on.

Trent Cotney: Very well. First and foremost, Heidi, it's always a pleasure to be able to talk to you. I really enjoy any opportunity I get to talk about the great things that NRCA is doing. Kudos to Alison, Anne, and everybody over at NRCA for really putting on something special. One of the things we really wanted to do this year was look at COVID-19 is as an opportunity. We've got a great lineup of seminars and it is so easy to attend. It's so incredibly easy to go on, either attend all of them or pick what you like. The idea is to be able to reach even a larger audience. A lot of the topics that we're focusing on this year are going to be spot on, regardless of whether you're doing commercial or residential or you're a subcontractor or whatever it might be. Just really excited about it and I think it's just a great opportunity to pivot and use what we've all experienced with COVID-19 and do something great with it. So very much looking forward to it. We've got a great lineup of webinars to share.

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah, we're going to dive into that because I think people are going to be just blown away with the quality and the information that they're going to be able to get virtually this year. Before we go forward, Alison, I know that NRCA has been so committed for many, many, many years to helping roofing contractors have the best legal support. The seminar has always been the highlight of that year. I know you mentioned this a little bit in your introduction, but can you just educate everyone listening on really what NRCA Legal is and how they can be more involved with it. And then we're going to really jump into how they can get into this seminar.

Alison LaValley: Right. Great. Thanks, Heidi. Yeah. As you mentioned, we are extremely fortunate to have Trent and his team as NRCAs general counsel, especially in this challenging year. Trent has provided so many resources to us as far as talking about COVID and collecting, getting paid and working with us on webinars and education and pieces for our legal e-newsletter. Really NRCA Legal, like you said, is so much broader than the seminar, really because it is the event that we spotlight, it gets more attention. But for those listening, here Trent's on the phone and, as a member, contractors can talk to Trent if they have a problem. We have a legal helpline. All you have to do is call or send a quick email and immediately Anne or I forward that to Trent's team and they answer almost immediately. You might have a contract issue, you might have a payment issue, you might have an issue with a subcontractor or an owner or whatever the case may be, and that question is going to get answered. I can't tell you what an invaluable resource that is to have him and his team available, whether it be employment law, like I said, or contracts, there's so much out there and so much information that he and his team can share. So that's been invaluable. Like I mentioned, we have a legal e-newsletter that goes out and many of the legal articles, there's always a contract provision included in there. Trent provides articles about a number of issues going on. Again, that's free for the asking and to have that available. We have 14, at least 14, legal resource publications that are there that can be downloaded when you're a member. In addition to the annual conference that we put on, again this year virtually, we launched a one day conference this past year. We for it in right before COVID came about and we call that Legal Time and we will be doing that one day conference again next spring as well. We're trying to finalize a date for that. lso we've started a legal webinar series. Trent and many of his partners, as well as other legal counsel and Mark Graham from our technical staff are helping us with monthly legal webinars so that you don't have to wait for legal con or the virtual conference to get legal education. We tend to do those towards the last, somewhere on a Friday within the month and we just started those this past August. We've got them booked through December and we'll be doing the same in 2021. So really the myriad of legal resources that we have available at nrca.net. Like I said, if you're a member, you can download things, you can access things so you don't have to wait for the conference or hope... We hope you join us but there's information to be had year round, 24/7 pretty much. Yeah, just a lot of opportunities out there to learn and to educate and, like we say, to be prepared in advance. We don't want you necessarily to have a legal issue and then have to react. We're hoping that these resources enable you to be more proactive so that you maybe don't have so much liability with your business and your jobs.

Heidi Ellsworth: Which is the most important thing.

Alison LaValley: Right.

Heidi Ellsworth: [inaudible 00:10:18]. It's so much easier to do that ahead of time than behind, once you're in trouble. Alison, I want to make sure, too, that everyone knows out there that all of this stuff that Alison just talked about is free to NRCA members. So this is a huge part of membership, of being a member of NRCA. I mean just a small part. There's so many great benefits.

Alison LaValley: Right, right. That's like I said. The webinars are free, that the publications can be downloaded into your account on NRCAs website. And again, the legal helpline, having access to Trent and all of his partners and their expertise. I mean that alone, the money you might spend trying to get yourself out of trouble or having someone take a look at a contract or answer questions, that alone would probably pay for your membership dues. So, I can't say enough about the legal resources we have and how it can really help your business.

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah. So we're going to hop into the seminar now, but I do want to say too, if you're not a member of NRCA, first of all, Roofers Coffee Shop says, "Be a member." Your associations are the most important part of this industry. But the second thing too, is that you can even go on there and just purchase things without being a member to get a little bit of a taste of how great this is. Really, the best way to get that taste is the seminar. So Trent, can you share with everyone the higher level, the bigger, what are the topics? What are some of the things that they can learn? What are those nuggets they'll be able to take back to their business?

Trent Cotney: Absolutely. For the listeners out there, these are all must see webinars. This is not canned content. This is fresh content. What we did is we got with Anne, we got with staff, we got with the NRCA Legal committee and George Patterson that heads that, and we put our heads together and tried to figure out what is the most important topics that we can get out there for the industry. And we came up with a really great line up. So just to give you a brief preview, we're going to start off on Tuesday, October 13th at 10:00 AM and we're going to start talking about navigating crisis management in a post COVID-19 world. I'll be giving that presentation and one of the things I'm going to do is make sure whatever the content is, probably as of the day before, I'll make sure to incorporate in that presentation so that at least I am giving the latest and greatest and how contractors should move forward with COVID-19. In addition to that, we've got Mark Graham who always does a great job speaking about the technical issues and the potential liability risk. Of course on that same day at 2:00 we've got Stephen Phillips who always does a great job. I'm a big fan. I love listening to his presentations. He's presenting on contract documents and key contract provisions. The next day, we've got Philip Siegel talking, again, fabulous speaker talking about non-competes, nondisclosure agreements, things that are very important when it relates to competition type issues. Then I'm speaking with Trey on something that I think the listeners might be interested in, and this is residential roofing contracts. So what we want to focus on with that is what are the key things that you need to have in there? Recognizing that you can't have too much because you don't want to scare the customer away. But Trey and I are going to are going to focus on what we see in the hundreds of residential roofing contractors we represent and incorporate that into the presentation. Then we've got another great presentation with Mark and Stephen talking about delamination and potential liability issues. I follow up on Thursday with subcontractors, issues with using subs on projects. We discuss everything from contractual to OSHA to liability issues and things to watch out for. And then something that I think is a little unique and something that I think the listeners will enjoy is legal issues involving diversity and roofing. We've got Jacqueline and Roscoe from our office presenting that. It's important. One thing I want to note about them, and this is very unique. Both of them are licensed general contractors in the state of Florida. So they are real contractors in addition to being lawyers. So going to get the real world perception of what it is, as long as with some great guidance from employment standpoint, contractual standpoint, and minority business women, business enterprise issues. And then finally, we end up with Stephen on the last time slot, 2:00 on that Thursday, October 15th. Again, one of my favorites, he talks about all the latest court cases. So really looking forward to that. Great lineup. Again, I'll tell you, I'm very interested in every single one of these webinars. I know that I will be attending every single one and I encourage everybody out there listening, it's hard to beat. This really is an amazing lineup, so very excited to be a part of it.

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah, I bet. I mean, talk about the who's who of the roofing industry when it comes to legal. That's cool. So Alison, how's it going to work? I knew Trent's saying webinars and we're going to have all these great people speaking. People just log in? How's that work?

Alison LaValley: Yeah. Heidi, what we're trying to do is really make it easy. So first of all, to comment on something that Trent said, there are nine webinars in the course of three days. So we're talking October 13th to the 15th, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. To make it easy, we've done them all at the same time all three days. We have starting at 10:00 on the first day, and then noon, and then 2:00. So same three times all three days to make it easy. Really all you have to do is go to nrca.net/legalconference and the legal conference will come right up. We're doing the Zoom platform. We picked Zoom because, as we all know, since we've been in this rather challenging year, we've had multiple, multiple meetings on the Zoom platform and there's a Zoom webinar platform that lends itself really well to providing education. So we're sticking with that. Then also what makes it interesting is when Trent said, "Yeah, I'm going to be on all nine." We encourage you to register for what we're calling that bundle. And the reason I point that out is these programs individually are only $39. I'm not sure where you can get any kind of education for that kind of price. When you bundle and sign up for all of them, it's really a 45% savings. So by doing all nine, you save 45%. That way maybe you sit in for part of it, or you have to step away and listen, and they're being recorded. So when you register for that, then you will have the recording to listen to later. So that really makes it convenient for you. If you have a larger firm, let's say you have 10, 15 people that want to register, instead of doing them all individually and a credit card here and this or that, reach to me personally because if you have a lot from your office, let us know, and we'll help you with that. We can take your name and your company name and an email and get you guys registered and offer you a 10% discount. Then we'll handle all the registrations for you to make it easier because I know sometimes, especially if you're in different offices and whatever, that gets kind of confusing. So we're here to help and make it seamless. We want to provide that customer experience that you would normally have with us in person, but now, like with everything else, we're trying to do with virtually. So again, trying to make it as seamless as possible, registrations can be taken up until the last minute. But really we encourage you to look it over and look at the programs and read all the descriptions are there. If I could add a plug too, we also have been approved for a number of CEUs. So if you need education, whether it be AIA learning units or health, safety, and welfare credits, we've been approved for [IBAK 00:18:51] continuing education. And also we are going to be offering credits to the Florida Department of Professional Regulation because I know a lot of times contractors need those credits to remain licensed in state of Florida. So again, what an opportunity, again, no matter where you are, home, in your car, in your office, to get those kinds of credits and learn along the way,

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah, those credits are important this year too, because a lot of the credits that people would normally get at trade shows and such are not happening. What an excellent opportunity to be able to get those credits that are needed in Florida for your licensing, for architects obviously, and for roof consultants and across the board with contractors. Well, first of all, Alison, I wanted to say kudos to the NRCA and to you, Trent, and your team because I know you guys work so well together to really be putting together something that's strong virtually. It's open to members and nonmembers, right Alison?

Alison LaValley: Definitely. Yeah. We welcome all. Again, if you're not a member, it doesn't mean you can't participate in this education. It's available, you can see on there, we encourage you, especially if you're not a member, try us out and listen to the program and see what we have to offer and then know that this is just an inkling of what a larger picture of what NRCA provides. So there's just so many opportunities to engage, even virtually. We have turned almost all of our education opportunities to a virtual format. So it's not just legal that's doing this, all of our other opportunities, we pivoted and done that to respond to the needs of the industry as many people have. So, we're excited for that and we're so thankful to Trent and his team for, again, whether it's been COVID related or anything legal and helping out our members, or especially with this virtual conference, for making these programs so strong. It's been a wonderful opportunity and we're really excited about it.

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah. I think it's going to be excellent. For me, when I do these podcasts, and when I have Trent on the line, I can never not just let it go without Trent, you got to tell us what are some of the hot things that are happening right now? I know you're going to talk about it in a month during the conference, but I really... What are some of the things? I know you're doing a lot of webinars, you're doing a lot of engagements. What are some of the things that contractors should have top of mind right now during this change daily of COVID and diversity and the elections and everything else.

Trent Cotney: So I can tell you Heidi, literally the legal issues that we face change on almost a daily basis. One of the great things that we're going to do with these webinars is, like I said, we're going to get the current timely information in there. So I can tell you, COVID-19 has affected contractors in different ways. What I've heard across the country is that commercial has dipped a little bit, residential still remains somewhat strong. There's been some areas that have been affected. But by October we might be seeing a little bit difference there. One of the things I want to do is in that residential contracts seminar, is go over some things that you can do contractually to help collect quicker. Talk about some of that kind of stuff, tie it in. And then in the first webinar that we're doing that we're talking about the crisis issues in COVID-19, we're getting more and more questions about paycheck protection program, forgiveness, loan forgiveness. We're getting all kinds of questions about navigating employees that have come in contact with someone that's tested positive for COVID-19, dealing with project suspensions and delays, all of these issues just keep coming up. It's constantly changing. I think as we approach closer to the election, I think you're going to see an increase in uncertainty and with that uncertainty comes a lot of legal challenges. So we'd love the opportunity to be able to interface with NRCA members, to be here as a support network. I really value the opportunity to help educate. I've always been a big believer that being proactive rather than reactive is the way to do things in the industry. I'm really looking forward to these topics because I think we will get to address some stuff that is on the tip of everyone's tongues at that time. So again, really appreciative, thank you to Alison and everybody at the NRCA. they've done a fantastic job. I'm blessed and very fortunate to be a part of it.

Heidi Ellsworth: You know what? I'm just going to say it. I think they're pretty lucky to have you too, but I'm a little prejudice.

Alison LaValley: [crosstalk 00:23:52].

Trent Cotney: Thank you.

Alison LaValley: We definitely are, Heidi. [crosstalk 00:23:58].

Heidi Ellsworth: I love it. Listening to you, as you're talking about all those different topics, it really does... I mean, I'm just thinking about what we're hearing on Roofer's Coffee Shop every day about material allocations and about COVID and about safety washing stations and all of these different things that all end up, at one point or another, tend to come back to contracts and legal and all of that. I know it's always important, but it seems like it's more important than ever to be educated on what's happening out there and how that could... The risk it is to your business as a roofing contractor.

Trent Cotney: Absolutely, Heidi. It's what I tell every roofing contractor, it's what you don't know that hurts you. That's the thing is, I've had so many conversations with roofers out there, they wake up in the middle of the night, worried about what regulation are they not certain of. What's going to close their doors tomorrow that they're not aware of? NRCA is the leader out there getting this information out to make sure that members and the industry knows what is important and what the watch out for. That's one of the things I think that is so important about this conference is because it helps you identify those things you don't know, prepare for it, be proactive and make sure those doors stay open. Nobody wants to talk to lawyers. They want to be making money and that's the goal with these webinars is educate and help prevent those problems from happening.

Heidi Ellsworth: That's excellent. That is so cool. So Alison, can you bring us home? I know you said this earlier, but I think it's always worth repeating again. How do people sign up and the dates and times. Let's just do a recap so that everybody has this top of mind and where they can go right now as they're listening to this and register.

Alison LaValley: Definitely, Heidi. Thanks. Yeah, like I said, even if you just went to NRCA.net. It's all over the website right now, of course, but to get there quicker, NRCA.net/legalconference. Again, the dates of the virtual conference are October 13th to 15th. It's a Tuesday to Thursday format. Again, we're doing three sessions each day, 10, 12, and then again at 2:00. Registration simple, again, we're going to be on a Zoom platform and you'll get a confirmation from us, you'll get a confirmation from Zoom and you'll be registered before you know it. Again, as we always say, our I always do, especially at NRCA, if you have any questions don't ever hesitate to reach out to any one of us, but especially to me. I can be found pretty much 24/7 at alavalley@nrca.net. Again, we can answer any questions, get you signed up. If you have any issues, please don't hesitate to reach out to us because we're really looking forward to engaging and reaching. It doesn't really matter if you're a CEO, COO, the office manager, training director, safety director. There are programs here for all of you. Like Trent mentioned, get informed, get engaged and educate before things happen, especially with some of his contract programs. I mean, I've sat through many of them and heard them and they're invaluable to have for your business so that you're proactive instead of reactive. I just think that's, like he said, what you don't know, right? You don't want to get caught there. That's really what our mission is, is to educate you about all of this so that you're better prepared and that you can limit your liability, manage expectations and just so that your business flourishes. That's really our main objective, Heidi.

Heidi Ellsworth: That is so important and NRCA Legal has been doing that for a long time in such a spectacular way. Just to clarify too, to make sure, Alison, that 10, 12 and two. Is that central time?

Alison LaValley: Oh yes. Thank you for pointing that out. Yes, those are central times. Of course then, when you get that Zoom confirmation, of course it'll adjust for your time. Luckily that does it. But those are all central times right now when I referenced those, yes.

Heidi Ellsworth: That's something we all have to think about right now, because right now we have Trent on Eastern, you on Central, me on Pacific. We don't think about anymore. We just are on there, but it might make a difference to some of the folks across the country and the Zoom does take care of all that.

Alison LaValley: Yes, but thank you for pointing that out.

Heidi Ellsworth: I just want to also say that, for all of you listening, that all this information is on Roofer's Coffee Shop, too. We have it in the directory, the NRCA directory, on Cotney Construction Law. Trent is, as you all know, a huge part of Roofer's Coffee Shop so you can find information and their directory. You can find this information in a lot of different places. Honestly, it's so easy. Nrca.net/legalconference. Well worth the time. I am looking forward to hearing some of this and to being there with all of you. Alison and Trent, again, as always, thank you so much for what you do for the industry and thank you for being on the show today.

Trent Cotney: Thank you. It's always a pleasure.

Alison LaValley: Yeah, it is. Thank you, Heidi. And kudos to all of you at Roofer's Coffee Shop and your staff. You're always such a pleasure to work with. For those of you who don't know, NRCA and Roofer's Coffee Shop partner on a lot of endeavors. We're both here for other. The main point is to be here for the industry and provide information and the latest news and education. I really value our partnership and I just wanted to make sure everybody knew that, and especially you, Heidi.

Heidi Ellsworth: Oh, Alison, you make my heart... Oh, that is so awesome because we love it, too. That's been one of the, I have to tell you, ongoing most awesome things that we've been able to do is to be such great partners with NRCA. And we have some more stuff coming up so watch and listen to future podcasts and coffee conversations because, I'm telling you what, we've got some cool stuff coming out from NRCA and Roofer's Coffee Shop is right there with them doing it. So thank you both again, thank you all for listening and please join us again for our next Roofing Road Trip. You never know where I'm going to be, even virtually. Have a great day.

Alison LaValley: Thank you.

Trent Cotney: Thank you.

Alison LaValley: Bye-bye.