Lawyer Story of the Decade

This might be the best "lawyer-story" of the decade! It's not true of course, but it has the redeeming value of humor.

A Charlotte, North Carolina lawyer purchased a box of very rare and expensive cigars; and then, he insured them against 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 claim against the insurance company.

In his claim, the lawyer stated that 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 the lengthy and costly appeal process, the insurance company accepted the ruling and paid $15,000 to the lawyer for his loss of the cigars 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 he was sentenced to 24 months in jail and a $24,000 fine.

This is a true story; and it was the First Place winner in the recent Criminal Lawyers Award Contest.

ONLY IN AMERICA! No wonder that some people from other countries think we're nuts!

Thanks to Patty Goodman.