Chris joined Beasley Allen’s Toxic Torts section in 2008. He represents clients in numerous state and federal courts and has dedicated his practice to protecting the rights of individuals whose health and property have been harmed by the intrusion of toxic substances onto their property.

Currently, Chris is closely involved in the multi-district litigation (MDL) resulting from the 2010 British Petroleum/Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Chris’s clients include businesses and owners of real property along the Gulf coast whose property or economic interests are being harmed by the catastrophic, far reaching effects of the oil spill. Also, Chris is an integral part of the MDL Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee’s (PSC) science team which is made up of top environmental attorneys from around the nation. As part of the PSC’s science team, Chris and his colleagues are working to amass the scientific evidence necessary to define the types and extent of harm the oil spill is inflicting upon the pristine Gulf Coast environment and the potential economic toll of that damage.

In addition to his work in the BP litigation, Chris is the lead attorney in our cases involving Leaking Underground Storage Tanks (UST). In these cases, Chris represents property owners whose health and property are being 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. Over the past few years, Chris has successfully recovered damages for numerous clients harmed by leaking USTs.

Prior to joining the firm, Chris served as Assistant District Attorney for Alabama’s Second Judicial Circuit, where he gained extensive trial experience in both jury and bench trials. Chris 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. Degree 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 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.

Chris and his family live in Montgomery where they attend the First United Methodist Church.