Professionals

William A. Wilson III

Of Counsel

Profile

Experience

William A. Wilson III has over 25 years of legal experience as in-house counsel and in leading law firms in New York, Hong Kong, and Washington.  Willy has extensive experience in complex financing and corporate transactions.  Willy has worked on multiple transactions for major financial and corporate entities, including the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), Viacom, Darby Overseas Investments Limited, and Albright Capital.  He has also handled work for foreign investors in the United States, start-ups in the energy, medical and technology sectors, as well as private companies.

The combination of technical skill and personal service is one of the key reasons clients hire Willy.  Another reason has been Willy’s breadth of skills across different practice areas.  Willy’s priorities are the business people who work at the institutions he represents and their deals.

Willy has a depth of corporate experience unusual for a sophisticated financing lawyer.  Willy approaches finance matters with an understanding of the interests of all parties, having represented entities in the differing roles of lender, borrower, trustee, guarantor, etc.  He has worked on nearly 100 finance transactions of all types.

Willy has extensive experience working with local counsel in the United States and around the world.  Among the United States jurisdictions where he has worked with and managed local counsel are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Vermont and Virginia.

Education

New York University School of Law, J.D., 1983 • New York University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, M.A., 1983 • Yale University, B.A., 1978.

Admitted

  • New York, 1986
  • Connecticut, 1983
  • Washington, D.C., 2000
  • Hong Kong, Solicitor,  1997

Languages

  • Good: French, German
  • Fair: Spanish, Italian
  • Spoken: Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese)

Areas of Practice

  • Specialized Finance
  • Infrastructure Financing and Mergers and Acquisitions
  • Mergers, Acquisitions and Joint Venture
  • Private Equity, Venture Capital and Securities
  • Telecommunications, Software and Media
  • International and National Litigation 

Speaking Engagements

  • Presenter, “The Four Questions You Need Answered Before Advising on a China Project,”addressed at The Center for American and International Law, Plano, Texas, June 2005.
  • Presenter, speech concerning doing business in Korea at the Cross-Border Investment Committee of the Inter-Pacific Bar Association, 2000.
  • Presenter, various speeches in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore to technology audiences focusing on key legal issues for start-up companies and venture capital investors, 1998 through 2000.
  • Presenter, Address on acquisitions of Korean companies at the Mergers and Acquisitions Seminar held by The Center for International Legal Studies (CILS), Salzburg, 1999.
  • Presenter, “Issues Affecting Mergers and Acquisitions in Thailand,” March, 1998.
  • Presenter, Address at the AIC Conference on Leasing & Asset Finance in Asia in Hong Kong, September 1997.
  • Presenter, “It’s a Loan, It’s a Bond, It’s Money the Lender Wants to Get Back!,” addressed at the IBC Asia Conference, September, 1997.

Publications

  • “The Overseas Private Investment Corporation’s Investment Fund Program,” accepted for publication in Private Equity Week, 2004.
  • “2020: Can Project Financiers Settle the “Near Frontier?,” Euromoney- Transport Report, 2004.
  • “A Review of the Regulations and Factors Affecting Foreign Investment in Key Asian Insurance Markets,” prepared for the Inter-Pacific Bar Association Meeting, 2000.
  • Interview for Focus on Global Law Firms, The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, 1999.
  • “Living Dangerously,” co-authored with Paul Zarnowiecki, Best’s Review, 2000.
  • “Vietnam - Mixed News for Power Projects,” co-authored with Jurg Gassman, Ph.D., Infrastructure Yearbook, 1997.
  • “Power in Nepal,” co-authored with Charles Dominic Paglee, Power Economics, 1997.
  • “2d Circuit Bars Suits by ‘Offshore’ Corporation,” co-authored with Jonathan K. Cooperman, The National Law Journal, 1997.
  • “Private Power Momentum,” co-authored with Stuart T. Solsky & Nicolai J. Sarad, Independent Energy, 1997.
  • “Project Finance in Asia,” co-authored with Alan M. Epstein, The New York Law Journal, 1996.
  • “The Overrated Risks of Asian Infrastructure,” The Asian Wall Street Journal, 1996.
  • “Doing Business in Asia - Key Issues,” co-authored with Anne Falvey, The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, 1995.
  • “Doing Business in Asia - A Practical Approach,” co-authored with Anne Falvey, The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, 1995.

Professional Associations

  • Publications Committee, District of Columbia Bar Association, 2005 to date.
  • Director, Friends Non-Profit Housing Corporation, Inc., 2006 to date.
  • Member, Finance and Stewardship Committee, Friends Meeting of Washington, 2006 to date.
  • Director, Parent Encouragement Program, Inc., 2007 to date.
  • Director, Hong Kong Music Exchange Programme Foundation Co. Ltd., 2007 to date. Reviewer, Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, 2009.

Awards

  • Walter J. Derenberg, Copyright, Scholarship, 1982.
  • German Academic Exchange Service fellowship, 1980 – 1981, studied at University of Cologne.
  • Corning Traveling Fellowship, 1978-1979, research in Asia, Australia, Africa and South America.
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