BEST LAWYER STORY OF THE YEAR, DECADE AND PROBABLY THE CENTURY.
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 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!
(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 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 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 was sentenced to 24 months in jail
and a $24,000 fine.
This is a true story and was the
Criminal Lawyers Award Contest.