Karl Labertew, of the Pensacola office, handles most of the Florida work for an international company that imports, among other things, toilet supply lines. The cases typically arise from property damage claims, such as where a toilet supply line or some part allegedly fails and floods a room or house. However, the client company is simply the middleman distributor, not the original manufacturer. Karl has probably handled more than 20 of these claims in Florida in the last few years, and he personally developed what ended up becoming the national litigation strategy for the client’s cases all over the country. As Karl has become more and more familiar with the supply and distribution chain, identifying the different manufacturers, designers, and distributors, and understanding national and international (primarily IAPMO) regulations, he has been able to refine his arguments and settle claims for increasingly smaller and smaller amounts. Recently, Karl persuaded the client to let one of the cases go to the fact-finder via arbitration, and the arbitrator in that case issued a complete defense verdict for the Defendant company.