Kristy Balsanek

Prior to joining DLA Piper, Kristy served as the general counsel for the North American divisions of two large international companies and as a global corporate compliance attorney at two international law firms. 

In her most recent role as General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer and Data Privacy Officer of the US division of a global grocery retail company headquartered in Germany, she oversaw and advised the US, European and Asian management teams on a broad range of legal matters, including global compliance, corporate governance, disclosures, risk assessments and investigations, and led the management of the company’s cross-functional business teams on ESG-related requirements. 

Previously, Kristy served as general counsel at the North American regional headquarters of a leading Swiss-based global provider of airline catering, onboard retail and food logistics to the travel industry where she managed commercial, regulatory and compliance matters involving multi-layered and cross-functional business units, external stakeholders and government agencies.  

Kristy’s deep experience holding legal roles as a strategic advisor both in-house and as outside counsel gives her a unique, broad and valuable perspective of legal, commercial and operational insights in counseling trans-disciplinary legal departments, business executives and corporate functions across multiple jurisdictions. Oftentimes, she counsels cross-cultural business teams from numerous countries, drawing upon her experiences living and working abroad (including in Asia and Europe) to bridge cultural differences.