Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Lawyer Story

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!

(Stay with me now.)
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 to the lawyer for his loss of the rare cigars lost in the "fires.

NOW FOR THE BEST PART....Ya GOTTA LOVE this!!
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 First Place winner in the recent Criminal Lawyers Award Contest.

14 comments:

CindyDianne said...

THAT is a good one, indeed.

ldbug said...

I'm shaking my head in amazement..

Coffeypot said...

The law can work for all of us if you know how to use it.

Betty said...

That's priceless. One-uppmanship personified.

FOUR DINNERS said...

I tried to insure my small packet of Hamlet cigars - smoke one every Christmas - after reading this but my insurance company wouldn't. They did however recommend 3 who would. All 3 are American. Perhaps the UK isn't quite the most insane yet.

Jay said...

That's pretty freaking hilarious. What a dumbass! haha

me said...

had to be the good ol us of a though eh?

Biddie said...

Sad. That's all I can say.

Cynnie said...

OMG..

I had an ex sue his wife's boyfriend for alienation of affection..and WON!

the bastard..
Only in America

Anonymous said...

If it really is true, it's clever.

SkippyMom said...

...as rhea said, if it is true...and gosh I hope it is, it is PRICELESS.

I absolutely cannot stand people who lie...it is nauseating.

Hugs!

Aunt Jackie said...

They say there is no justice... lol ;)

Anonymous said...

Thats the best story, my lawyer friend is going to love that one. We've just done something simmilar to Cruella, we're using her actions against her.

Anonymous said...

That is poetry.