--- title: "A Chance Meeting in Prague Reveals a Wyche Connection" canonicalUrl: "https://wyche.com/insights/blog/posts/a-chance-meeting-in-prague-reveals-a-wyche-connection/" excerpt: "The world became a little smaller recently when former Wyche attorney John Simpkins and Bakala Foundation Executive Director Václav Pecha unexpectedly found themselves seated next to one another during a week-long youth leadership program in Prague, where both were serving as mentors. Within minutes of conversation, the two discovered a shared connection to Greenville and…
Read More" datePublished: "2026-08-28T11:33:25-04:00" dateModified: "2026-09-03T18:23:21-04:00" --- - A Chance Meeting in Prague Reveals a Wyche Connection [Home](https://wyche.com/) » A Chance Meeting in Prague Reveals a Wyche Connection [** Wyche , P.A.](https://wyche.com/author/wycheauthor/) ** ** ** # A Chance Meeting in Prague Reveals a Wyche Connection The world became a little smaller recently when former Wyche attorney John Simpkins and Bakala Foundation Executive Director Václav Pecha unexpectedly found themselves seated next to one another during a week-long youth leadership program in Prague, where both were serving as mentors. Within minutes of conversation, the two discovered a shared connection to Greenville and to Wyche – specifically through [Marshall Winn](https://wyche.com/what/attorneys/marshall-winn/). Marshall recently shared the story after receiving a photo and note from Pecha following the program. Marshall has worked closely with Pecha for several years through the Bakala Foundation’s scholarship program, serving on the interview committee that selects Czech students pursuing undergraduate and graduate studies at English-speaking universities. After the chance encounter, Pecha told Marshall: *“We ended up sitting next to each other by total accident, and ten minutes of discussion led to making the Greenville connection and made the world an even smaller place. John is truly wonderful, and I am a better person having met him.”* Simpkins is president of MDC, a nonprofit that works to expand economic mobility across the South. His distinguished career has included leadership roles with the Aspen Institute’s Aspen Global Leadership Network, service as General Counsel of the U.S. Agency for International Development, and Deputy General Counsel for the White House Office of Management and Budget. He also once served as of counsel with Wyche and continues to teach at Duke Law School. Pecha brings equally remarkable experience to his work as Executive Director of the Bakala Foundation. His career has focused on international development, democratic governance, and humanitarian efforts, including leadership roles supporting election and reconstruction initiatives in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kosovo, and South Sudan. His public service has been recognized with both the NATO Non-Article 5 Medal and the Czech Republic Minister of Defense Medal for Service Abroad. It’s a wonderful reminder that the relationships built through Wyche—and through a shared commitment to leadership and service—have a way of spanning continents. * # Marshall Winn In a career spanning over thirty-five years of practice, Marshall Winn has had the rare opportunity to practice corporate, real estate, bankruptcy, tax, estate planning, and other areas of law at a high level, and in addition has been greatly respected as a trial lawyer with expertise in several substantive fields such as product liability, insurance coverage, bankruptcy, securities fraud, and antitrust, among others. The result: hundreds of clients with deals done, plans effected, trials won, all with greatest efficiency and client satisfaction. How is this possible in an age of increasing lawyer specialization? First, Marshall points to his partners and friends at Wyche, all spectacularly capable and eager to join in the effort to win a matter for a client – so assembling an expert team, or just asking for a little expert advice, is commonplace. Second, South Carolina is a small jurisdiction, and a smart lawyer with broad interests can end up involved in all kinds of things. Third, Marshall has developed a knack for “seeing around the corner” to anticipate and resolve issues before they become problems. Over time, that leads to a deep knowledge of the law in many fields, and it earns clients’ trust in Marshall’s advice. Beginning over ten years ago, Marshall has served as outside general counsel to several clients based in Europe, handling legal matters for all their US businesses, working with other Wyche lawyers, and overseeing legal matters for most of their non-US businesses, working with local counsel. This international work has strengthened Wyche’s remarkable corporate practice. Marshall still attracts major litigation and corporate work to the firm and is often called upon by colleagues for counsel and assistance in other matters. Marshall will tell anyone who will listen that he has the best law job in the world, practicing with his friends at a very sophisticated level in a firm small enough to appreciate and celebrate everyone’s differences and in a city where the firm’s influence for the good of the public is visible to the casual visitor as well as behind the scenes. He is personally involved in many of these efforts, and for fun he sings in the local symphonic chorale, plays the piano, and takes friends and their families on hikes in the nearby mountains. 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