William Perlstein

William Perlstein is the current General Counsel at Union College. Prior to their current position, they worked as a Senior Deputy General Counsel and Managing Director at BNY Mellon from June 2015 to November 2019. In this role, they were responsible for regulatory affairs, government relations, and legal teams supporting cyber security, resolution planning, LIBOR transition, and corporate services. William also frequently interacted with banking regulators in the US, UK, and EU, and was an active participant in industry-wide regulatory symposiums in the US and Europe. Furthermore, they were a member of the Strategic Risk, Crisis Management, and Regulatory Oversight Committees.

Prior to their work at BNY Mellon, Perlstein was a partner at WilmerHale from January 1982 to June 2015. During their time there, they established a national bankruptcy and restructuring practice with major creditor, debtor, and committee representations. William also led significant engagements in high-profile regulatory, litigation, restructuring, and cross-border matters. Furthermore, they testified before committees of both Houses of Congress on bankruptcy and derivatives legislation, presented a paper to the OECD on bank insolvencies, and was a Fellow and Counsel to the Board of the American College of Bankruptcy. Perlstein is also a member of the American Law Institute and the American Bar Foundation.

William Perlstein attended Union College for their undergraduate degree, where they majored in economics and political science. William then attended The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) for their masters in economics. William later attended Yale Law School for their Juris Doctorate degree. Lastly, they attended Harvard Business School Executive Education for professional service firms.