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 insurance company in which it had warranted that the cigars were insurable and also guaranteed that it would insure them against fire, without defining what was considered to be "unacceptable fire," and that the insurance company was therefore obliged to pay the claim.

Rather than endure the lengthy and costly appeals process, the insurance company accepted the ruling and paid $15,000.00 to the lawyer for his rare cigars lost in the "fires."

NOW FOR THE BEST PART... After the lawyer cashed the check, the insurance company had him arrested on twenty-four 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 twenty-four months in jail and a $24,000.00 fine.

This incident was a true story and was the first place winner in the recent Criminal Lawyers Award Contest. ONLY IN AMERICA