A veteran attorney at law and a member of the Academy of Court Appointed Masters (ACAM), Edgar “Ed” Gentle has over 25 years of experience in handling claimant appeals, administering depositions on the fairness of mass tort settlements, and winning cases for plaintiffs. In his role as settlement administrator, he was integral to the $300 million Anniston, Alabama, Tolbert PCB settlement in 2003, as well as the 2009 Jefferson County, Alabama, occupational tax refund case that resulted in a $37 million settlement issued to over 300,000 claimants. Beyond his professional success, Ed Gentle enjoys spending time with his sons and his best friend, Charlie, a chocolate Labrador who has been with him for eight years.

According to the American Kennel Club, the Labrador retriever is the most popular dog breed in the world--in fact, the breed has been number one for the past 26 years. This all-time favorite type of dog is famous for being intelligent, playful, and good with kids. Even popular personalities like Kevin Costner, Gwyneth Paltrow, Bill Clinton, and Prince Charles of Wales have kept Labradors.

It wasn’t until the 1900s that chocolate Labradors became popular in the United States. A chocolate Labrador is considered rare as it needs to inherit two pure brown genes; if either one of its parents has a black gene, the dominant coat will be black and the recessive brown gene will be switched off.