ONLY IN AMERICA ! NO WONDER THE REST OF THE WORLD THINKS WE'RE NUTS!

**Dan Harris** · 09-05-2009, 07:12 AM

BEST LAWYER STORY OF THE YEAR, DECADE AND PROBABLY THE CENTURY.

Charlotte , North Carolina . 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 now.)

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 First Place winner in the Criminal
Lawyers Award Contest.

Similar Threads:

**Raymond Wand** · 09-05-2009, 08:35 AM

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".

Just like E&O insurance, its easier and cheaper to settle out of court.

**John Arnold** · 09-05-2009, 09:00 AM

As usual, with outlandish stories like this...

snopes.com: Cigar Arson

**Dan Harris** · 09-05-2009, 11:33 AM

Well heck, I didn't think about checking it out.
I got it from a lawyer, just figured it must be true.

Daniel Leung · 09-05-2009, 07:35 PM

Originally Posted by Dan Harris

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

Sorry, it is not a true story. It is a spam since 2003, please see Lawyer Commits Insurance Fraud With Box of Cigars? - BreakTheChain.org

**Nick Ostrowski** · 09-05-2009, 08:29 PM

This is a Brad Paisley song, some lines in the original post almost verbatim.

Story possibly true but I doubt it.

**Raymond Wand** · 09-06-2009, 05:16 AM

okay, okay so the rumour is false, but lets not short change the thread nor Dan, after all it was a good story!

A grade school teacher was asking students what their parents did for a living. "Tim, you be first," she said. "What does your mother do all day?" Tim stood up and proudly said, "She's a doctor." That's wonderful. How about you, Amie?" Amie shyly stood up, scuffed her feet and said, "My father is a mailman." "Thank you, Amie," said the teacher. "What about your father, Billy?" Billy proudly stood up and announced, "My daddy plays piano in a whorehouse." The teacher was aghast and promptly changed the subject to geography. Later that day she went to Billy's house and rang the bell. Billy's father answered the door. The teacher explained what his son had said and demanded an explanation. Billy's father said, "I'm actually an attorney. How can I explain a thing like that to a seven-year-old?"

**Gunnar Alquist** · 09-06-2009, 09:42 AM

I think I was much happier in life before Snopes, because I could think that these things were real. Oh well.

Ron Bibler · 09-06-2009, 11:47 AM

Hook, line and sinker: I been walking around telling that story to every one as if it was true...

Best

Ron

**Raymond Wand** · 09-06-2009, 12:23 PM

Speaking of cigars, a quip from Groucho Marx comes to mind.

Groucho had a woman named Mrs. Story who lived in Bakersfield with her husband and many children.... Groucho said something along the lines of, 'Why do you have so many children?' and Mrs. Story said, 'Well, I love my husband and I believe that's why God put us on this earth.' To which Groucho replied, 'Well, I love my cigar, too, but I take it out of my mouth once in a while.'