An attorney in Charlotte, NC purchased a box of extremely rare and pricy cigars. He then insured them against fire, in addition to other things. A few weeks later, after having smoked his entire collection of these rare cigars and without yet having made even his first premium payment on the policy, the attorney filed an unusual claim with the insurance company. In his claim, the attorney stated the cigars were lost "in a series of small fires." The insurance company rejected is claim, citing that the man had consumed the cigars in the normal fashion. The attorney 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 attorney held a policy from the insurance company that stated the cigars were insurable against fire, without expressing what is considered to be "unacceptable fire," and therefore was required to pay the claim. Rather than go through a lengthy and expensive appeal process, the insurance company accepted the ruling and paid $15K to the attorney for his loss of the cigars that were "lost in the fires." But the insurance company was not done... After the attorney cashedthe check, the insurance company had him arrested on 24 counts of arson! They used his very own insurance claim and his testimony from the prior case used against him. Ultimately, the lawyer was convicted of intentionally burning his insured property and was sentenced to twenty-four months in prison and a $24K fine.

This is an interesting (and true) story about a lawyer insuring his cigars. What do you think about the judge's ruling on the case? More importantly, what do you think about the insurance company's revenge? What is a just punishment for the lawyer?