Biography

Maddie brings 30 years of experience providing strategic and solutions-oriented counseling and representation on a broad range of U.S. and Latin American environmental, health and safety standards.

Maddie began as an Associate in the firm’s Washington, DC office in 1999. In 2005, after returning to Texas, she co-founded the Austin office and served as its first Managing Principal. She is the immediate past Chair of the firm’s International Environmental Practice Group and the immediate past Co-Chair of the Air and Climate Change Practice Group.

Her domestic caseload includes multiple matters before the U.S. Department of Justice, the Office of the Attorney General of the State of Texas, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), with a focus on high-stakes clean air act and emergency response matters for the petrochemical sector. Her Latin American work involves compliance support and legal project management on a range of regional sustainability issues, including emerging chemicals, circular economy initiatives, and climate change.

Maddie is Chair of the firm’s Pro Bono Committee and maintains an active pro bono political asylum and international human rights practice. She received the American Gateways 2015 Access to Justice Award and the 2022 Pro Bono Award.

A native of Austin, Maddie supports local non-profit organizations dedicated to human welfare and the arts. Over the past two decades, she co-founded and served on the Board of CHULA League, which produces the Cherrywood Art Fair and sponsors the acclaimed little artist Big Artist (laBA) program; served as a Board member and Board Chair of American Gateways, a nationally recognized organization providing low cost and pro bono legal services to immigrants and refugees from around the world; served on the Board of the National Peace Corps Association; and the Advisory Board of the Austin Flamenco Academy, Austin’s premier flamenco dance studio and producer of the Austin Flamenco Festival. Maddie currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Veterans Yoga Project (VYP), a national non-profit organization dedicated to providing yoga classes and training for veterans and their families suffering from PTSD and mental stress-related issues.

Before joining B&D, Maddie was a Staff Attorney at the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (now the TCEQ) and interned with the Centro Méxicano de Derecho Ambiental (CEMDA). From 1988-1990, she served in the United States Peace Corps in Guatemala.

Education

  • Università degli Studi di Firenze, Italia  (1987)
  • University of Texas - Austin  (B.A., 1988)
    • Plan II Honors Liberals Arts Program
    • Phi Beta Kappa
  • Escuela Libre de Derecho, México  (Maestría, 1997)
  • University of Texas School of Law  (J.D., 1994)
    • International Environmental Law Journal, Book Review Editor (1993-1994)

Bar Admissions

  • Texas
  • District of Columbia

Professional Affiliations

  • American Bar Association
  • District of Columbia Bar Association
  • Texas Bar Association

Honors & Awards

  • The Best Lawyers in America©, a Best Lawyers® publication, recognition in Environmental Law (2015-2025)
  • Chambers and Partners – USA, Band 2 in Environmental Law (2017-2024)
  • Latinvex, Latin America’s Top 100 Lawyers Overall (2017-2023)
  • Latinvex, Top 100 Female Lawyers (2014-2022)
  • The Legal 500, recognition in Environmental Regulatory Law (2021-2024)
  • The Legal 500, recognition in Environmental Litigation (2023-2024)
  • Who's Who Legal, part of Law Business Research Ltd., recognition in Climate Change Law (2016-2022); Who’s Who Legal – Environment & Climate 2023, a publication of Lexology (2023)

Languages

  • Spanish (high proficiency)
  • French
  • Italian (proficiency)
  • Portuguese