Matthew T. Simpson

Originally from Toronto, Canada and a past National Law Journal “40 Under 40” awardee, Matt leads Mintz’s global Private Equity practice and helps his clients navigate complex corporate transactions including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, growth equity, venture capital and other minority investments, and restructurings.

Leveraging his broad skill set and unique background, Matt leads teams that structure, negotiate, and execute various transactional arrangements, with a particular focus on private equity mergers and acquisitions involving founder-run businesses. Matt also serves as outside general counsel to several clients, advising them on all aspects of their legal needs, taking several clients from startup to IPO, and beyond.

Matt’s clients span a broad range of corporate organizations, including well-known private equity sponsors (committed funds, independent sponsors, and family offices), large multi-national corporations, and both early-stage and late-stage growth companies, across a variety of industries including technology, pharmaceuticals, life sciences, telecommunications, financial services, energy, and manufacturing, among others.

Prior to joining Mintz, Matt worked for Torys LLP and Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP.

In addition to his corporate practice, Matt is a recognized international negotiator and legal advisor. In 2010, the United Nations and African Union appointed Matt the Principal Legal Advisor to the Darfur Delegation in the Darfur Peace Negotiations. Embedded in Doha, Qatar as an official member of the Darfur delegation, Matt led a team of over two dozen legal and policy advisors on all aspects of the peace negotiations including the negotiation of a $2 billion development fund, the return of IDPs and refugees, and the formation of a regional government for Darfur. Since 2006 Matt has affiliated with the Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG) in Washington, DC where he has advised on over a dozen post-conflict legal and policy initiatives including leading the first-ever surrender to the International Criminal Court, war crimes prosecution efforts in Uganda, and the Iraqi constitution. Matt currently serves in a pro bono capacity as a PILPG Senior Peace Fellow advising on various peace processes and post-conflict initiatives.

Amb. Donald J. Planty

Ambassador Donald J. Planty is a Senior Peace Fellow at Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG). Ambassador Planty is also a Senior Advisor of the Albright Stonebridge Group (ASG), where he advises clients on international issues. He is also President and CEO of Planty & Associates LLC, his own consulting firm. He is former Senior Foreign Service Officer of the United States and U.S. Ambassador to Guatemala with 40 years of experience in the public and private sectors. Ambassador Planty is an expert on Latin American affairs and European security issues, drawing on his experience living and working in Panama, Chile, Mexico, Guatemala, Norway, Italy, and Spain. As Ambassador to Guatemala, he was instrumental in facilitating negotiation of the historic 1996 Peace Accords, which ended four decades of internal conflict in that country.

Dr. Paul R. Williams

Dr. Paul R. Williams holds the Rebecca I. Grazier Professorship in Law and International Relations at American University where he teaches in the School of International Service and at the Washington College of Law. Dr. Williams is also the co-founder of the Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG), a pro bono law firm providing legal assistance to states and governments involved in peace negotiations, post-conflict constitution drafting, and the prosecution of war criminals. As a world renowned peace negotiation lawyer, Dr. Williams has assisted over two dozen parties in major international peace negotiations and has advised numerous parties on the drafting and implementation of post-conflict constitutions. Several of Dr. Williams' pro bono government clients throughout the world joined together to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize. More information about Dr. Williams can be found at www.drpaulrwilliams.com.

Professor Milena Sterio

Milena Sterio, the Charles R. Emrick Jr. - Calfee Halter & Griswold Professor of Law at Cleveland State University’s Cleveland-Marshall College of Law and Managing Director at the PILPG. She is a leading expert on international law, international criminal law and human rights. Sterio leads PILPG’s Thought Leadership Initiative.

Sterio is one of six permanent editors of the prestigious IntLawGrrls blog, and a frequent contributor to the blog focused on international law, policy and practice. In the spring of 2013, Sterio was selected as a Fulbright Scholar, spending the semester in Baku, Azerbaijan, at Baku State University. While in Baku, she had the opportunity to teach and conduct research on secession issues under international law related to the province of Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh. Serving as a maritime piracy law expert, she has participated in meetings of the United Nations Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia as well as in the work of the United Nations Global Counterterrorism Forum. Sterio has also assisted piracy prosecutions in Mauritius, Kenya and the Seychelles Islands. Sterio is a graduate of Cornell Law School and the University of Paris I, and was an associate in the New York City firm of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton before joining the ranks of academia full time. She has published seven books and numerous law review articles. Her latest book, “The Syrian Conflict’s Impact on International Law,” (co-authored with Paul Williams and Michael Scharf) was published by Cambridge University Press in 2020.

Dr. Gregory P. Noone

Dr. Gregory P. Noone, Ph.D., J.D., is the Executive Director, a Senior Peace Fellow, and Senior Legal Advisor for the Public International Law and Policy Group (PILPG). Dr. Noone currently co-leads the Sudan and Kenya programs, and serves as a Senior Legal Advisor for the Ukraine Accountability Initiative. Previously, he led the Yemen track two diplomacy team, and served as the Senior Legal Advisor for the Human Rights Documentation Solutions project. Dr. Noone has conducted PILPG justice system assessments in Uganda and Côte d’Ivoire as well as provided transitional justice assistance in post-Gaddafi Libya and to the Syrian opposition. Dr. Noone was also part of the international effort investigating the Myanmar government’s atrocities committed against their Rohingya population. He worked as an investigator in the refugee camps in Bangladesh and as one of the legal experts on the report’s findings. Click here to learn more about Dr. Greg Noone.