Peter Prestley is a graduate of Wesleyan University in Middletown Connecticut, and of the University of Connecticut School of Law, where he served as the Editor-in-Chief of the law school’s law review.

During many of his years of legal practice, he also served consecutively as adjunct faculty at the University of Hartford (Business Law), the University of Bridgeport Law School, (Tort and Insurance Law) and at the University of Connecticut Law School (Insurance Law).

Education

About Peter Prestley

Legal Career

After a short period of general practice, Attorney Prestley joined the corporate law department of The Travelers, and ultimately served for a decade as its Deputy General Counsel. In that capacity, he provided legal counsel to senior management on a wide variety of legal areas, including litigation, corporate law, administrative law, tax and benefits law, and employment law. This portfolio enabled him to serve as a trusted counsel to two Travelers General Counsels during that time.

While at The Travelers he also performed major outward-facing roles such as testifying, together with leading Insurance industry CEO’s, before a full U.S. Senate Committee on Superfund Reauthorization, the leading legislative imperative facing The Travelers and the U. S. Property and Casualty insurance sector at the time. He also met routinely with senior Congressional staffers on employee benefit law and regulation issues of moment, and regularly attended Business Roundtable meetings as legal counsel to the Chair of its Labor Policy Committee. During this period, he also attended the New York University School of Law enrolled in its tax law LLM program.

After a Travelers merger, Attorney Prestley moved to the Wall Street law firm of Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett LLP as a client- in-residence. That firm was representing The Travelers as principal legal counsel defending and pro-actively using ADR in resolving multi-billion insurance coverage cases and other complex litigation.

Attorney Prestley then in the mid-90s co-founded what ultimately became Madsen Prestley & Parenteau LLC, a prominent individual-side employment law firm. While there, for over two decades he personally represented a wide variety of clients from rank-and-file employees to CEOs and other C-level employees. His cases included a full panoply of employment legal matters across a wide variety of industries and sectors.

During the over three decades that Attorney Prestley spent at The Travelers, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, and at Madsen Prestley & Parenteau LLC , he participated successfully in hundreds of mediations and other ADR resolutions representing clients of both the corporate/defendant and individuals sides of the practice. Some of these involved resolutions of major cases utilizing the services of the very top ADR professionals in the United States. Attorney Prestley also received extensive training in ADR at the American Arbitration Association in New York City.

Attorney Prestley began to provide 3rd party neutral services on January 1, 2025, utilizing the knowledge, experience, and training he received in the context of representing clients as described herein.

Legal Career

During the Sobchak/Yeltsin meetings, Attorney Prestley was invited to personally confer with the Chair of the Ecology Committee of the Supreme Soviet regarding provision of U.S. assistance and technology to address environmental disasters taking place in the Soviet Union.

Served on the ABA World Under Law Committee which annually meets with and provides oversight and advice to the U. S. Delegate to the United Nations.

Together with the ABA President served as ABA delegate to the American Assembly initiative Interwoven Destinies: Cities and the Nation, which was convened to bring scholars, national experts, and senior public officials together to determine new means of addressing the challenges and opportunities facing and presented by U. S. cities.

Served as President of a section of the French speaking bar association Union Internationale des Avocats, which supports lawyers representing unpopular clients in closed societies.

During his legal career Attorney Prestley was privileged to have participated in, and provided leadership to, professional and public service organizations at the state, national, and international levels. These activities reflected his long-held commitment to the rule of law, freedom of expression, protection of the environment, and promotion of social justice.

Served as Chair of 30,000 member the Tort and Insurance Section of the American Bar Association (ABA), an association home to many of the nation’s top litigators.

Served as a member of the ABA International Environmental Committee which together with top EPA staffers provided support and sustenance to international advocates for protection of the environment.

Served as one of two ABA delegates, with the President of the ABA, to the Rio Di Janeiro United Nations Agenda 21/Global Forum meeting of world leaders. This meeting helped map out many of the perils facing the earth’s environment in a developing world, as well as many opportunities to address them.

In 1995 Attorney Prestley was part of a select group of U.S. law leaders invited by St. Petersburg mayor Anatole Sobchak, who under the auspices of President Boris Yeltsin, had requested U. S. input in drafting a new constitution and civil justice system.

Service to Bar and Public

William Martucci
Shook, Hardy, & Bacon LLP
Washington D.C.

"Dealing with Peter is a delight. I just resolved a multi-faceted, sensitive, and volatile matter with him. He is naturally understanding of all points of view and is a master of dispute resolution. All this is done with positive energy and a light touch. His obvious expertise, gravitas, and professionalism reflect his wide and outstanding record of professional accomplishment."

Large company outside counsel
(anonymous by request)

“I had a long and complicated matter representing a large company hiring a new CEO. When asked by the Board what I thought of the new incoming CEO, I told them if you judge the client by her lawyer, in this case Peter Prestley, you couldn’t go wrong.”

Nick Zaino
Carmody Torrance Sandak & Hennessey LLC
New Haven, Stamford, and Waterbury CT

“Peter Prestley…. an experienced, knowledgeable, and very well-respected member of the Plaintiff’s employment bar. Whether representing C-level and Senior Executives in negotiating agreements or protecting employee rights in the workplace, Peter brought a high level of expertise, tenacity, and creativity in getting excellent results for his clients.”