This is the best lawyer story of the year, decade, and probably thecentury. A Charlotte, NC, lawyer purchased a box of very rare andexpensive cigars,: then insured them against fire among other things.Within a month having smoked his entire stockpile of these great cigarsand without yet having made even his first premium payment on the policy,the lawyer filed a claim against the insurance company. In his claim, thelawyer stated the cigars were lost in a series of small fires.The insurance company refused to pay, citing the obvious reason: thatthe man had consumed the cigars in the normal fashion. The lawyer sued ..and won!

In delivering the ruling, the judge agreed with the insurance companythat the claim was frivolous. The Judge stated, nevertheless, that thelawyer held a policy from the company in which it had warranted that thecigars were insurable and also guaranteed that it would insure themagainst fire, without defining what is considered to be unacceptablefire, and was obligated to pay the claim. Rather than endure lengthy andcostly appeal process, the insurance company accepted the ruling and paid$15,000 to the lawyer for his loss of the rare cigars lost in thefires.

NOW FOR THE BEST PART...

After the lawyer cashed the check, the insurance company had him arrestedon 24 counts of ARSON!!!! With his own insurance claim and testimony fromthe previous case being used against him, the lawyer was convicted ofintentionally burning his insured property and was sentenced to 24 monthsin jail and a $24,000 fine.

This is a true story and was the 1st place winner in the recent CriminalLawyers Award Contest.