Mary M. Balaster, Esq. (Reed Smith LLP, 811 Main Street, Suite 1700, Houston, TX, 77002; Email: mbalaster@reedsmith.com) concentrates her practice in environmental, health and safety-related matters, providing both upfront compliance counseling and responsive advocacy in the event of an incident. She has extensive experience in crisis management matters involving spills, toxic releases, and other workplace incidents. She counsels clients in connection with major industrial accidents, crisis response, process safety incidents and workplace fatalities. In addition, she works extensively with technical experts and auditors to provide compliance advice regarding existing or developing safety programs at complex facilities. Balaster’s portfolio includes both commercial deal work in the form of risk assessment and due diligence as well as litigation, from regulatory enforcement defense to contract and technical failure disputes. Prior to joining Reed Smith, she worked as an environmental engineer for more than 10 years in both upstream and downstream business units for a multinational energy company, where she provided compliance support and advocacy for a variety of environmental program areas.