By: Laura Phillips
Jeremy Marcus has been practicing communications law for nearly three decades, focusing on a wide array of technology law and policies matters across wireless, satellite, wireline, cybersecurity, and enforcement issues, both in and out of government. Jeremy is currently a Member at Lerman Senter PLLC, which he joined this past spring after over two decades of government service. At Lerman Senter, Jeremy works on a wide range of communications issues, including broadband, spectrum, satellite, data protection, cybersecurity, and enforcement matters. As discussed below, Jeremy’s government service includes leadership positions at the Federal Communications Commission, in Enforcement, Wireless Telecommunications, and Wireline Bureaus and a detail to the White House Office of Management and Budget. In addition to his recent work in EB, Jeremy worked at the FCC in the Wireless Bureau on making mid-band spectrum available for wireless use and oversaw the FCC’s universal service policy and programs as Chief of the Telecommunications Access Policy Division in the Wireline Bureau. Jeremy also worked for communications law boutiques in both Washington and Atlanta, as well as in-house, prior to his FCC service. Jeremy grew up in New York and has spent most of the past three decades living in the Washington area. We met up for coffee to discuss some of his career highlights and insights and ended up identifying common threads that contribute to a successful law practice.
Q: What attracted you to the field of communications?
A: I was an International Relations major in college but never really developed an ear for languages and thus, I found myself attracted to law. In law school I was drawn to communications by the interplay between technology, law, and policy, as well as the explosive growth that was then occurring in technology, media, and telecommunications—and hasn’t stopped for a minute since. At Georgetown Law, I was fortunate both to take a class in communications law and to participate in a legal clinic that focused on communications law. The class was taught by a dynamic adjunct professor, Jeffrey Blumenfeld, whose personal experiences went back to his work at the Department of Justice during the breakup of AT&T. The clinic focused on a wide range of public interest matters in communications law, including during the time I was there, considering the public interest obligations of broadcasters that were involved in a significant transaction. From exposure to these experiences, my fascination with technological innovation as it relates to law and policy grew. And the timing turned out to be ideal, as I graduated from law school a few months after the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Those who have been around a while will recall that implementation of the Act created significant demand for communications attorneys.
Q: Tell us about the various places you’ve worked through the years.
A: I have worked in a variety of different places throughout my career. I started at MCI Telecommunications Corp., as a junior negotiator on the team that negotiated the original post-1996 Act interconnection agreements with the Bell Operating Companies. While it may seem quaint in today’s AI and social media dominated world, a main goal of the law at the time to enable competition in local and long-distance phone service. Working in-house on these agreements afforded me great opportunities to learn about the business, as I had direct access to company subject matter experts, as well as to more senior attorneys. A few years later, I was recruited to join a small law firm in Atlanta, where I continued to work on interconnection agreements for start-up telecommunications companies, and I developed a state public utility commission practice, mostly before the Georgia Public Service Commission. Subsequently, I returned to Washington to work for a communications law boutique, continuing to represent competitive providers on transactional and regulatory matters.
In 2002, in part due to the dot.com crash, I joined the FCC, where I worked in various positions for almost 23 years. I started out as an attorney-advisor in the Wireline Bureau’s Pricing Policy Division. Subsequently, I was promoted to a front office legal advisor by then Bureau Chief Jeff Carlisle—who I now have the good fortune of working with again at Lerman Senter. One of the wonderful things about the years I spent at the Commission is that with hard work and patience one could move around the agency and work on a wide array of interesting issues with dedicated, smart people. I subsequently served as Chief of the Telecommunications Access Policy Division, overseeing universal service policy and programs, and as Associate Chief of the Wireless Bureau’s Broadband Division, working primarily on mid-band spectrum issues.
In 2014, I was asked to take a detail to the OMB to serve on an interagency panel responsible for reviewing federal agency transition and spectrum sharing plans related to the FCC’s $40 billion AWS-3 auction. This experience provided tremendous insights into how agencies view their spectrum needs and how the interagency process works.
I then returned to the FCC, joining the Enforcement Bureau front office, where I served for over a decade, ultimately as Deputy Bureau Chief. In that role, I oversaw the Bureau’s Spectrum Enforcement Division and the Office of the Field Director, working on a range of enforcement issues related to the integrity of the communications network. This ran the gamut from 911 and other public safety and cybersecurity matters, to unauthorized wireless equipment and unauthorized use of spectrum, to radio interference matters, as well as space debris, and pirate radio matters.
Earlier this year, I left the FCC and returned to practicing at a small communications law firm – Lerman Senter PLLC. Lerman Senter is a great firm, with a sophisticated tech and telecom practice and, critically, good people, where I am able to bring my experience to bear on behalf of its clients.
Q: Have things unfolded in your career more or less the way you planned?
A: One of the lessons I have learned throughout my career and by watching the careers of friends and colleagues is the importance of being flexible. Opportunities arise at unexpected times, and it is important to be prepared to react when they do. At the same time, unforeseen events, such as economic swings or companies or clients running into financial problems, can lead to the need for unexpected pivots. Expect and embrace that.
Once I determined that I wanted to focus on communications law, I networked extensively to find a job in the sector. After starting at MCI, I did not necessarily intend to leave to work at small law firms and then the government, but there were logical breakpoints at these jobs and when good opportunities arose, I was in positions to take advantage of them. When I joined the FCC, I did not expect to work there for over two decades, but the agency proved to be a great place to work, with good people and unparalleled opportunities to work on diverse issues over time. Now, I have largely come full circle, returning to work at a sophisticated communications law boutique.
Q: What’s the most interesting or challenging thing that you’ve done in your current position?
A: I have been in my current position for about six months. It has been interesting getting to know the firm’s diverse clients and the particular regulatory or business challenges that they face. It has also been rewarding to travel again to industry conferences and events and rebuild relationships that were harder to maintain when my travel opportunities were more limited as a government employee. It’s also been interesting as a long term FCC person to encounter clients with perspectives that are not always well represented to the FCC, which is understandable if a client has limited business at the FCC or limited budgets for regulatory matters. It’s been striking to me how the FCC functions even though it may not fully appreciate how its decisions affect smaller businesses.
This is a dynamic time to be involved in law and policy, as the environment keeps us all on our toes. I’m grateful that my experience makes it possible for clients to take advantage of, or avert, the effects of new developments when law and policy are in such flux.
Q: Is or was there something interesting or someone who surprised or impressed you during your career and why?
A: I have been very fortunate in my career to work with a lot of good and impressive people. Two that stood out during my time at the FCC were Julie Knapp and Rosemary Harold, not just in substance, but in how they managed people. Although I do not work directly with or for Julie, I still learned a tremendous amount from him. While working on some difficult wireless matters, I often would walk up to his office at the end of the day, and he always made the time to explain the engineering aspects of an issue and offered his thoughts on the best way to address it. Rosemary took care of those around her in a way that stood out to me. In one of her early weeks as Chief of the Enforcement Bureau in 2017, a hurricane was forecast to hit south Florida. Rosemary immediately recognized that not only did Bureau field agents need to be available to support hurricane recovery efforts, but that ensuring the physical safety of the Bureau’s agents based in the Miami area was also part of her role. Watching her advocate for the protection of these agents, most of whom she had yet to meet, was inspirational and taught me a great deal about how to manage a team.
Q: What do you enjoy reading?
A: I enjoy reading a wide variety of books, from science fiction to biography to history. Earlier this year I completed reading N. K. Jemisin’s The Broken Earth Trilogy, and my college-age daughter recently gave me Arkady Martine’s A Memory Called Empire. Also, I recently completed Mel Brooks’ autobiography All About Me! and am currently reading Making It So, A Memoir by Patrick Stewart. And, I am hoping to read Irving How’s World of Our Fathers to learn about my own heritage.
Q: Is there something (a hobby or other tidbit) people don’t know about you that you are willing to share?
A: A fairly recent hobby of mine is e-cycling. As a kid and teenager, I did not live within walking distance to my friends and would bike everywhere, something I largely abandoned post-college. During the pandemic, I badly needed to get out of the house, and like many other people, I picked up biking again. I bought a lower end e-bike and have enjoyed living near Rock Creek Park and biking the various trails in the area.
Q: Can you share your perspective on the pitfalls to avoid or other career advice for those who are just getting started in the communications field?
A:Remember to always keep learning. We work in a dynamic field, and something is always changing, whether the technology, the law, the policy, or all of them. Relatedly, never be afraid to admit when you don’t know something. It may feel embarrassing to admit to not knowing, but trying to fake it will show. Few things are more frustrating to a boss or colleague than when someone acts like they know something but does not. Finally, do what you can to work with good people who are willing to teach you and to advocate for you. In the long run, finding and nurturing mentor type relationships will be far more important to your career than working on a particular project.
Q: How long have you been an FCBA member, and what to you is the value of FCBA membership?
A: I have been an FCBA member since 1995, having first joined while I was in law school. FCBA membership is invaluable. At different points in my career, it has served as a way to meet others in industry and the bar, to stay current on technological and legal developments, and even to meet and make friends. In fact, I even met my wife through an FCBA-related activity. The FCBA loosely sponsored a team in a local ultimate frisbee league, and we met playing on that team. For those of you who made it to the end of this profile, you have now learned the most important FCBA fact about me; the FCBA truly changed my life! Not surprisingly, I would recommend anyone interested in communications law or policy to become an FCBA member.