Christopher Don Boutwell

Since joining Beasley Allen Law Firm’s Toxic Torts Section in 2008, Chris has devoted his practice to providing legal advice to help protect the rights of those injured by exposure to toxic substances wrongfully placed in the environment by corporate giants and other polluters. Chris represents individuals, classes and groups in individual lawsuits, as well as in complex, multi-party litigation in state and federal courts and Multi-District Litigation (MDL) throughout the United States.

Notable Cases

Currently, Chris is the lead attorney in a class action pending in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida involving unfair and deceptive trade practices by the manufacturers and retailers of “flushable wipes.” In this case, the class includes Florida residents who purchased certain moist personal wipes that were falsely marketed to be safe for flushing.

In addition to his work on “flushable wipes” litigation, Chris represents individuals, property owners and business owners across the Gulf Coast to recover damages they suffered as a result of the 2010 BP / Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Chris was heavily involved in the Deepwater Horizon MDL and class action litigation pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. As a member of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee’s Science Team, which is made up of top environmental attorneys from around the nation, Chris and his colleagues worked to amass the scientific evidence necessary to define the types and extent of harm the oil spill inflicted on the pristine Gulf Coast environment and the catastrophic, far-reaching economic toll of that damage.

Chris is also the lead attorney in our cases involving leaking underground storage tanks (USTs). In these cases, Chris represents people whose health or property is injured by toxic petroleum contaminants, including benzene (known to cause cancer in humans), toluene, ethyl benzene, xylene and MTBE, that leak from USTs, usually from a convenience store or other gasoline sales or storage facility. Chris’s UST clients include people who live or own property near leaking USTs, residents who obtain drinking water from wells near a leaking UST and nearby businesses affected by a UST leak. During the past few years, Chris has successfully recovered damages for numerous clients harmed by leaking USTs.

Awards and Ratings

Chris, a Martindale Hubbell AV Preeminent Rated attorney, was named to the Super Lawyers' Alabama Rising Stars list in 2013, 2014 and 2015. In 2011, and again in 2015, he was selected as Lawyer of the Year for Beasley Allen’s Toxic Torts Section.

Publicity

He has spoken at several seminars and CLE events on various topics, including: class action and complex litigation, environmental litigation and the British Petroleum (BP) / Deepwater Horizon oil spill and settlement program.

Background

Prior to joining Beasley Allen, Chris served as assistant district attorney for Alabama’s Second Judicial Circuit, where he gained extensive trial experience in both jury and bench trials. He also served as attorney for the Butler County Department of Human Resources, where with that department he fought to protect abused and neglected children.

Chris graduated from the University of Alabama in 1992 with a B.S. in commerce and business administration. While at Alabama, he served as President of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. After 10 years managing a family owned sales business, Chris attended Faulkner University's Thomas Goode Jones School of Law, where he served as executive editor of the Jones Law Review, completed an externship as a judicial clerk at the Alabama Supreme Court, received recognition for Best Scholastic Achievement in 11 classes and received the Ronald A. Canty Memorial Scholarship - awarded by Beasley Allen. In 2005, Chris graduated magna cum laude, number one in his class and was awarded the James J. Carter Scholarship Award.