I’m Simon Torres, Assistant General Counsel for the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, and I am honored and delighted to be the EBC’s new Public Co-Chair, succeeding my friend and PBGC colleague, Bruce Perlin. Bruce has been a tireless advocate for this committee and its members, and for the thousands of government employees and lawyers who work in our field. He deserves so many thanks, and I know that I have big shoes to fill.
October 01, 2024
Message from New EBC Public Co-Chair Simon Torres
Simon Torres
Some of you might know me from my participation on the EBC Midwinter Meeting or ERISA Basics’ panels on Ethics. It’s my honor to take on this new role for the next three years and to join a team of EBC co-chairs – Jennie Arnold, Marie Casciari and Clarissa Kang – who are also my friends.
I’ve been attending EBC meetings since I became a government fellow in 2015, shortly after joining PBGC’s Office of the General Counsel after eight years of private practice on ERISA litigation and counseling matters. But I’ve been part of the ERISA universe for much longer. After I graduated from college in 2000, my first job was as an administrative assistant in the Morgan Lewis DC office’s ERISA group. Little did I know that by taking a job to help solidify whether I wanted to go to law school and be a lawyer, I would set the tone for the rest of my career. I was a benefits advisor with Morgan Lewis during law school, and an associate there for six years after (and yes, I worked as a contributor on the big book). I also proudly worked on some of the biggest ERISA litigation issues of that time, with and against some of the best attorneys in the country.
When life took me to the federal government and PBGC in 2014, I had to learn a different part of the statute, and I’m still learning every day. My love for this work and my admiration for my fellow employee benefits practitioners and professionals has only grown. And I value and cherish the opportunity to work in furtherance of PBGC’s important mission of insuring private pension benefits for millions of Americans.
That’s me as a professional. And it’s a big part of who I am. But it’s not the most important part. This is: I live in Baltimore with my wife, two sons and two cats. I coach kids’ soccer and ran my boys’ school PTO for two years and my neighborhood association for three years. I love Pearl Jam. Although I’ve somehow lived in the mid-Atlantic region for almost 30 years, I am a proud native of El Paso and West Texas. I am a die-hard supporter of Arsenal Football Club of the English Premier League. And yes, I am forever an ERISA nerd.
So, as introductions go, that’s me! I hope to get to know (or get to know better) as many of you as possible. Thanks to the ABA, LEL, and EBC for the opportunity, and thank you to our wonderful ABA partners for their support, to all our Committee and Subcommittee members for your continued participation in our organization, and to everyone who takes valuable time to attend our events and support this committee.
See you soon.