This took place in Charlotte
, North Carolina .
A lawyer purchased a box of very
rare and expensive cigars, then insured 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 small
fires.'
The insurance company
refused to pay, citing the obvious reason, that the
man 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
lawyer held a policy from the company, in which it had
warranted that the cigars were insurable and also
guaranteed that it would insure them against fire,
without defining what is considered to be unacceptable
'fire' and was obligated to pay the claim.
Rather than endure lengthy
and costly appeal process, the insurance company
accepted the ruling and paid $15,000 to the lawyer for
his loss of the cigars that perished in the 'fires'.
NOW FOR THE BEST PART...
After the lawyer cashed the
check, the insurance company had him arrested on 24
counts of ARSON!!! With his own insurance claim and
testimony from the previous case being used against
him, the lawyer was convicted of intentionally burning
his insured property and was sentenced to 24 months in
jail and a $24,000 fine.
This true story won First
Place in last year's Criminal Lawyers Award contest.
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