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Lawyering and Insurance companies at their finest!
This is the best lawyer story of the year, decade and probably the
century.
A 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 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 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 was sentenced 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.
This is the best lawyer story of the year, decade and probably the
century.
A 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 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 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 was sentenced 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.
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