Marcus J. Lemon
FAX: 202.496.7756
Experience
Marcus J. Lemon was appointed by President George W. Bush to be Chief Counsel to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), where he served as the agency's lead advisor to the Federal Highway Administrator and other senior officials on public-private partnerships (P3s) and project finance. During his tenure he was instrumental in several successful P3 initiatives and the development of multiple tolling and congestion relief projects of national significance.
Mr. Lemon has more than 17 years of experience, including extensive work in infrastructure, public private partnerships, project finance, transportation, and government affairs. His P3 practice includes highway, rail, transit, port, energy, parking, water, and social infrastructure projects. In transportation P3s, he currently represents the largest North American privately-owned, international toll bridge company, and was successful in leading a team that identified more than $53 million in USDOT toll credits for a privately owned facility and a state department of transportation using P3 toll credit programs under the nation’s transportation act. He also led a team of transportation and P3 experts in preparing the client’s testimony on a proposed P3 bill before a state legislature involving a $2.2 billion bridge P3 project. He successfully obtained a $20 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Grant from USDOT for a U.S. port facility for its post-PANAMEX expansion plan. Mr. Lemon also lead a team that developed a TIGER I and II Grant application for a Class II rail carrier, and his legal insights provided the framework for a successful TIGER III Grant. He also lead a team that successfully applied for and obtained a Railroad Rehabilitation and Repair Grant for a Class II rail carrier. He has also represented a privately-owned port concessionaire in its bid to acquire a post-Panamex ready seaport facility on the east coast.
His P3 practice also includes municipal and social infrastructure projects which can include facilities for energy, water, telecommunications, parking, and other public use buildings. His experience also includes P3 work involving distressed cities and private investment in municipal assets, and currently leads a team of professionals in monetization of a waste-to-energy incinerator facility for a distressed city under receivership. Mr. Lemon also regularly provides expert testimony in various transportation matters, false claim cases, and P3 matters before courts and legislative bodies. He also represents various transportation construction entities and public authorities on transportation regulatory matters such as Buy America Waivers, RFPs, RFQs, and other procurements.
As FHWA Chief Counsel, Mr. Lemon was instrumental in the development of several national P3 and congestion reduction projects, including the Transportation Border Congestion Relief Program, and assisted in the development of the Office of Innovative Program Delivery (the P3 division of FHWA). He also frequently represented FHWA on the USDOT Credit Council, and was instrumental in the streamlining and overhaul of the joint Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) Program and its procedures. His experience includes extensive work on TIFIA and Private Activity Bond (PAB) transactions. He is also a frequent commentator to various news outlets on P3 issues, and regularly testifies to state legislatures on proposed P3 bills.
Mr. Lemon is a retired major from the U.S. Army Reserves Judge Advocate General's Corps. Prior to his work at FHWA, he was appointed by President Bush to serve as Deputy Chief of Staff and Special Assistant to the U.S. Department of Defense Inspector General, where he worked on several high profile fraud, waste, and abuse cases involving federal government defense contracts. He currently represents various federal and state contractors involved in technology, transportation, and defense related procurements. He has also represented various Fortune 500 companies, businesses and individuals throughout his career on various corporate transactions, contracts, formations, governance, and restructuring matters including mergers and acquisitions.
Prior to his public service, Mr. Lemon held several senior positions on various federal, state, and local Republican Campaigns and is actively involved in government affairs and regulatory matters. He served as a Media Coordinator and Advance Team Member to Bush-Cheney 2000, and later served as a coordinator on the 2001 Presidential Inaugural Committee. He later served as Lead Regional Counsel to Bush-Cheney 2004 in Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Chairman of Professionals for Bush-Cheney 2004, and was a fundraising organizer. In 2008 and 2012 he served as Regional Counsel to the Republican Presidential Campaign in Pennsylvania. In 2000, he was a candidate in the Republican Primary for the 37th District State House of Representatives Seat in his home state of Pennsylvania.
Education
- J.D., Dickinson School of Law of the Pennsylvania State University, 1996
- B.A., Franklin & Marshall College, cum laude, 1992
Bar Admissions
- District of Columbia
- New Jersey
- Pennsylvania
Court Admissions
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
- U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
Publications:
- "Bridge Legislation Built on Shaky Claims of Federal Billions," Detroit Free Press, October 9, 2011.
- “USDOT TIGER Program Re-Emerges as ‘National Infrastructure Investment Grants’: But is a $600 Million Program Too Small to Have a Major Effect?” ABA Transportation Quarterly, Summer 2010.
- “New Opportunities For Public-Private Partnerships Through USDOT TIGER Grants: Port of Gulfport – A World Class Blueprint,” ABA Transportation Quarterly, Spring 2010.
- “Reauthorization: A Missed Opportunity for Transportation Funding Reform”, Toll Roads News op. ed., June 23, 2009.
- “Facilitating The Demand For P3 Transactions – The New Federal Highway Administration Office of Innovative Program Delivery”, ABA Transportation Committee Quarterly, Fall 2008, Vol. 1, No. 2.
- “The Transportation Border Congestion Relief Program – Keeping America Moving At The Borders”, ABA Transportation Committee Quarterly, Fall 2008, Vol. 1, No. 2.
Seminars and Presentations:
- “Testimony on Proposed P3 Legislation Before the Michigan Legislature”, October 12, 2011, before the Michigan State Legislature Economic Development Committee.
- “Remarks on the Proposed P3 Financing of the New International Trade Crossing Project”, October 4, 2011, Detroit Double Tree Suites, Detroit, Michigan.
- Presenter to the 2nd Annual ARTBA Legal & Regulatory Forum, May 29, 2010, Washington, DC on Public-Private Partnerships through TIGER Grants.
- “The Future of Infrastructure Finance Under Reauthorization”, August 31, 2009, before the Southeastern Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (SAASHTO), Beau Rivage Resort and Casino, Biloxi, Mississippi.
- “New Opportunities for the Use of Public Private Partnerships”, April 8, 2009, before the Council for Public Private Partnerships Conference, Double Tree Crystal City, Virginia.
- Testimony on Pennsylvania P3 Legislation before the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania House of Representatives Transportation Committee, September 11, 2008, SEPTA Headquarters, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.