Here's a good one-completely OT

[nlpnt]

Unfortunately, the documentation got cut off this as it appeared on 
the board I copy-and-pasted it from. So, call it an urban legend

Only in America........... 
A Charlotte, North Carolina lawyer purchased a box of very rare and 
expensive cigars then insured them against fire, among other things. 
Within a month, having smoked his entire stock-pile of these 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! 

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 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 a lengthy and costly appeal process, the insurance 
company accepted the ruling and paid $15,000.00 to the lawyer for his 
loss of the rare 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 
sentenced him to 24 months in jail and a $24,000.00 fine.