Christie Deaton

Attorney
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Christie Deaton is licensed to practice in Missouri and Illinois, as well as the Southern District of Illinois.  Ms. Deaton began her legal career as a law clerk with Korein Tillery in the summer of 2000, and joined the firm as an associate upon her graduation in 2001 from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law. 

Following her admission to practice law, Ms. Deaton was heavily involved in the investigation, filing, and prosecution of Mercurio, et al. v. Alcoa Inc., et al., 02-L-1647, a toxic tort case concerning the lead contamination of a small Illinois town.  Since that time, Ms. Deaton was significantly involved in investigations and mediations that lead to settlements with two of the three defendants and with the ongoing litigation against the third defendant. 

Ms. Deaton has experience representing plaintiffs in individual and class actions.  She has represented clients in consumer fraud and environmental contamination cases.  Ms. Deaton has had significant involvement in the briefing and presentation of class certification in Harris v. Roto-Rooter, 00-L-525.  Ms. Deaton has also had significant involvement in the briefing and argument in opposition to dispositive motions in such cases as Village of East Alton v. Premcor Refining Group, Inc., 01-L-1171, Harris v. Roto-Rooter, 00-L-525, Wagner v. Lowe's Home Centers, 02-L-690, Holiday Shores Sanitary District v. Syngenta Crop Protection, et al., 04-L-710, Holiday Shores Sanitary District v. Sipcam Agro, et al., 04-L-708, Holiday Shores Sanitary District v. Dow AgroSciences LLC, et al., 04-L-713, Holiday Shores Sanitary District v. United Agri Products, et al., 04-L-711, Holiday Shores Sanitary District v. Makhteshim-Agan, et al., 04-L-712, Holiday Shores Sanitary District v. Drexek Chemical, et al., 04-L-709, and Pioneer Southern, et al. v. Dow AgroSciences, LLC, 02-L-795.

Ms. Deaton is a member of KT's Environmental Litigation group.  In that capacity Ms. Deaton has had responsibility for a number of toxic torts matters including:

Mercurio, et al. v. Alcoa Inc., et al., 02-L-1647 - In 2001, the Illinois EPA began an investigation into possible chemical contamination in the residential areas of Rosiclare, Illinois as a result of fluorspar mining and milling activities.

Lead was found throughout Rosiclare in the surface soil at levels that far exceeded IEPA remediation levels.  Subsequent investigations found lead in the surface soil as high as 25 times the IEPA remediation level and more than 250 times background levels. 

Korein Tillery has filed suit representing more than 300 of Rosiclare's current and former residents and home owners, seeking compensation for medical monitoring and property damage.  Korein Tillery has reached confidential settlements for its clients with two of the three defendants.

Atrazine Cases (e.g., Holiday Shores Sanitary District v. Syngenta Crop Protection, et al., 04-L-710) - Korein Tillery represents Holiday Shores Sanitary District as a class representative of all other Illinois water providers that have measurable atrazine levels.  Korein Tillery has filed cases against Syngenta and each of the other five manufacturers of atrazine.  The cases seek damages including a remediation plan for the providers' water supplies as well as proper filtration systems that will protect the public from the dangers of this chemical.  In a sweeping decision, the Third Judicial Circuit Court of Illinois ruled against the defendants in their joint motions to dismiss, allowing the cases to proceed even if the plaintiff's and class members' atrazine levels are below the maximum containment level set by the EPA.