00:00...story of what was the first place winner in the recent Criminal Lawyers Award Contest.
00:08Okay, you ready? You really aren't, but I'm going to read it to you.
00:13Charlotte, North Carolina.
00:15A lawyer purchased a box of very rare and expensive cigars,
00:21then insured them, against many other things, fire.
00:28Within a month, he had smoked all 24 of these great cigars,
00:34and without yet having made even his first premium payment on the policy,
00:41the lawyer filed a claim against the insurance company.
00:45In his claim, the lawyer stated the cigars were lost in a series of small fires.
00:56The insurance company refused to pay, citing the obvious reason
01:02that the man had consumed the cigars in a normal fashion.
01:07The lawyer sued and won.
01:11Stay with me here.
01:14Delivering the ruling, the judge agreed with the insurance company
01:18that the claim was frivolous.
01:21The judge stated, nevertheless, that the lawyer had a policy from the company
01:27which it had warranted that the cigars were insurable
01:33and also guaranteed that it would insure them against fire,
01:38without defining what was considered to be acceptable fire,
01:44and was obligated to pay the claim.
01:48Rather than endure lengthy and costly appeal process,
01:54the insurance company accepted the ruling
01:56and paid $15,000 to the lawyer
02:00for his loss of the 24 cigars lost in the fire.
02:07Now, the best part.
02:09After the lawyer cashed the check,
02:12the insurance company had him arrested on 24 counts of arson.
02:21Yeah.
02:23No.
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