Charlotte NC lawyer purchased a box of very rare and
expensive cigars then insured them against fire among other things.
Within a month having smoked his entire stockpile of these great cigars and
without yet having made even his first premium payment on the policy,
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!
In 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 a lengthy and costly appeal
process, the insurance company accepted the ruling and paid $15,000.00 to
the lawyer for his loss of the rare cigars lost 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 sentenced him to 24 months in
jail and a $24,000.00 fine.
This is a true story and was the 1st place winner in the recent Criminal Lawyers Award Contest.
