Michael E. Lamb

Profile

Michael E. Lamb brings nearly 40 years of experience serving Allegheny County and publicly funded entities, developing solutions for clients across multiple areas of law, most recently as Controller for the City of Pittsburgh. In his legal practice, Michael helps clients navigate the complexities of politics and government at the local, county and state levels; establishing and fostering extensive contacts with individuals and organizations across the commonwealth; and generating public finance opportunities with governments, authorities and agencies.

Public Finance and Government Services
Michael possesses a keen understanding of the legal, regulatory, and financial processes specific to municipal finance. He is intimately familiar with legal matters related to the issuance of municipal securities and financing of public projects as well as compliance and successful execution of financial transactions that support the development and maintenance of public infrastructure and services. Michael also advises pension funds associated with government entities and municipalities. He also serves as a trusted advisor on a wide range of other matters, including:

• Bond issuance and other public finance opportunities: Working with governments, authorities and agencies at the state and local levels to secure financing for public projects, including The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA), West Mifflin Borough and Pigeon Creek Sewer Authority. On such projects, he has served as bond counsel, underwriter’s counsel and disclosure counsel.
• Legal compliance: Navigating public finance statutes and regulations to ensure his clients are in full compliance with federal, state and local laws that govern municipal finance and retirement benefits for public employees. He also ensures pension funds comply with tax regulations.
• Public-private partnerships (PPPs): Structuring and negotiating PPPs on infrastructure and development projects.
• Litigation and dispute resolution: Michael is a skilled litigator with public and private sector experience in managing legal disputes that may arise in public finance transactions.
• Advisory services: Providing legal advice and counsel to government officials, agencies and boards on matters related to finance, budgets, investments and fiscal policies as well as those dealing with the administration and regulation of pension plans.
• Special districts and authorities: Assisting in the establishment and governance of special districts or authorities created to finance and manage specific projects, such as transportation or utilities.

Previous Experience
Michael joined McNees in December 2023 after serving for 16 years as the City of Pittsburgh’s Controller, an independently elected position he had held since 2008. Under his leadership, the Pittsburgh Controller’s Office conducted audits, inspections and investigations, which aimed to identify and curb waste and abuse of taxpayer dollars in city departments and authorities. He also increased taxpayer transparency by leading initiatives such as Open Book Pittsburgh, Fiscal Focus Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Watchdog App and the Popular Annual Financial Report.

In his role as trustee of the Comprehensive Municipal Pension Trust Fund, he worked with members of city council to develop a plan that adequately funded pension obligations with the city’s parking tax revenue. This strengthened the fund and improved its investment performance.

Michael also served the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County as its last Prothonotary and is credited with transforming that office from one that used manual record-keeping into one of the most technologically advanced court recording offices in the nation.

Earlier in his career, he served as chief of staff to former Pittsburgh City Councilman Michael Coyne and as staff assistant to the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA). When he was in private practice, Michael worked at two Pittsburgh-based firms and interned with the Allegheny County Public Defender’s Office.

Community Involvement
Michael is a passionate public servant who devotes his time to bettering the communities he loves. He has been a lifelong resident of Allegheny County. He and his wife Jill currently reside in the Mount Washington neighborhood of Pittsburgh.

In Pittsburgh, he co-founded The Congress of Neighboring Communities, an organization that brings together the city and its neighboring municipalities to implement public policies that improve the urban core of the region. He also serves on the board of 3Rivers Wet Weather, where he works with the city and 82 other municipalities to implement a regional solution to combined sewer outflows. Michael also co-founded A Plus Schools, which advocates for increased student achievement, parental involvement, after-school programming and stronger leadership in the Pittsburgh Public Schools.

Michael is an Adjunct Professor of Public Policy at Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University and a member of the Board of Fellows at the University of Pittsburgh’s Institute of Politics. He is an instructor of Pennsylvania civil procedure for continuing legal education seminars and has presented at various conferences and associations on topics including municipal pensions, regional economic forecasts, public finance and distressed communities.

He was active with the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) and through his work for the City of Pittsburgh was honored each year with the GFOA’s Certificate of Excellence for Outstanding Financial Reporting and the Certificate of Excellence for Outstanding Popular Financial Reporting. He was also awarded the Tyler Excellence Award for Use of Technology in Community Engagement.