This took place in Charlotte North Carolina.
A lawyer purchased a box of very rare and expensive cigars, and theninsured them against, among other things, fire.
Within a month, having smoked his entire stockpile of these great cigars,the lawyer filed a claim against the insurance company.In his claim, the lawyer stated the cigars were lost 'in a series of smallfires.'
The insurance company refused to pay, citing the obvious reason, that theman had consumed the cigars in the normal fashion.The lawyer sued and WON! (Stay with me.)Delivering the ruling, the judge agreed with the insurance company that the claim was frivolous.
The judge stated nevertheless, that the lawyerheld a policy from the company, in which it had warranted that the cigarswere insurable and also guaranteed that it would insure them againstfire, without defining what is considered to be unacceptable 'fire' andwas obligated to pay the claim.
Rather than endure lengthy and costly appeal process, the insurancecompany accepted the ruling and paid $15,000 to the lawyer for his loss ofthe cigars that perished in the 'fires'.
NOW FOR THE BEST PART...
After the lawyer cashed the check, the insurance company had him arrestedon 24 counts of ARSON!!!
With his own insurance claim and testimony fromthe previous case being used against him, the lawyer was convicted ofintentionally burning his insured property and was sentenced to 24 monthsin jail and a $24,000 fine.
This true story won First Place in last year's Criminal Lawyers Awardcontest
