Christopher D. Boutwell

A dedicated and principled advocate, Chris has devoted his practice to protecting 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.

Chris, a Martindale Hubbell AV Rated attorney, was named to the Super Lawyers “Alabama Rising Stars” list for 2013. 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. In 2011, Chris was selected as Lawyer of the Year for Beasley Allen’s Toxic Torts Section.

Currently, 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. In addition to fighting for his individual clients, Chris is heavily involved in the 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 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 catastrophic, far-reaching 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 (LUST). In these cases, Chris represents people whose health or property is 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. During 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. 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. 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.