This took place in the Province of British Columbia …
A lawyer purchased a box of very rare and expensive cigars from a retail merchant on Robson Street in Vancouver British Columbia, then insured them against, among other things, fire. Within a month of purchase, having smoked his entire stockpile of these great cigars, the lawyer filed a claim against the insurance company. In Plaintiff’s 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.)
Delivering his ruling, The Honourable Judge Gowsinque 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-court process, the insurance company accepted the ruling and paid out $15,000 to the lawyer for his loss of the cigars that perished 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, crown counsel achieved conviction against the lawyer for intentionally burning his insured property and the lawyer was sentenced to 24 months in jail and fined $24,000.00.
This true story won First Place in last year’s Criminal Lawyers Award Contest.
“Life is the sum of all your choices…”