Only In The U.s. Legal System

Spike

The lonely one
Joined
Mar 27, 2002
Messages
740
Age
42
Location
lincoln, england
A Charlotte, North Carolina man, having purchased a case of rare, very expensive cigars, insured them against ... get this ...fire.
Within a month, having smoked his entire stockpile of fabulous cigars, and having yet to make a single premium payment on the policy, the man filed a claim against the insurance company. In his claim, the man stated that he had lost the cigars in "a series of small fires."
The insurance company refused to pay, citing the obvious reason that the man had consumed the cigars in a normal fashion. The man sued...and won!
In delivering his ruling, the judge stated that since the man held a policy from the company in which it had warranted that the cigars were insurable, and also guaranteed that it would insure the cigars against fire, without defining what it considered to be "unacceptable fire," it was obligated to compensate the insured for his loss.
Rather than endure a lengthy and costly appeal process, the insurance company accepted the judge's ruling and paid the man $15,000 for the rare cigars he lost in "the fires." After the man cashed his check, however, the insurance company had him arrested ... on 24 counts of arson!
With his own insurance claim and testimony from the previous case being used as evidence against him, the man was convicted of intentionally burning the rare cigars and sentenced to 24 consecutive one year terms!
 
Whahahahaha ... well at least the Insurance Company got the last laugh! It's only fair that he's in jail now, he's a total fraud!

Here in the Netherlands, you can never get more then 20 years (=life sentence), and when you have less then that, you can get released for good behavior at the half of your time. So a murder can be about 7 and a half year, if you play it right 😀 ... so if you really hate somebody, bring ' em here!
The juctice-system here is a total joke, innocent people are allways punished too much, and murders, rapist and other low life criminals are overprotected!
 
Compensation culture sucks. All we needed is that in britain, makes me mad how fat bastards are suing mcdonalds, i hate what mcdonalds stands for, but these lazy fat people blame them for not telling them it was fattening or some rubbish. I seen a programme that had this fat whale-a-like women who could hardly move, they had to get a crane to get her out of bed, then suck all the fat out of her cos she cant frigging move.
 
*the lawyer in training ducks under the desk and waves a white flag* Still; it's amusing, and makes mega bucks, why not?
 
*trainee nurse stands up* Good to see all the moneys going to the people who deserve it, not to those who help others in need.
 
I'll remind you of that if you ever fall and suffer a hideous injury at the hands of some despicable firm, and can't get anything for it because all the lawyers are dead. It really gets quite annoying being told you're the scum of the earth all the time; I mean it was only an english lawyer who wrote the European convention on Human Rights, which 80 countries have now adopted. Terrible people we are, blood suckers. ::grrr:: ::grrr:: ::grrr::
 
watch it you 😛 it's called sarcasm.

Edit: you know what, I'm not going to back off on this. i'm a trainee, and I plan to work in the fields of defence, human rights or crime; all appeal to me right now. I also am a volunteer for the witness service, to help people through teh criminal process, using my legal understanding to explain what is happening to them and make it a less frightening and intimidating experience. I'm just finishing the first year of a alw degree, then I have another two years, and then my BVC. I'm working my arse off to support myself, but still making time to volunteer for a worthwhile cause. So please refrain from telling me how terrible I am and what a waste of time it is studying to be what I've dreamt of being since I first saw th legal service when I was 8, during my parent's divorce. lawyers are nto teh scum of the earth, money grabbing and all teh rest of the stereotypes. They're hard working, receive very little in comparison to what they do, and whislt I may not be savign someone's life on a daily basis such as a doctor or nurse may, I'm doing what I am because I believe there is a need for things such as justice, but that there are also problems that need addressing within the legal system. I'm not doing it for "the money" because barristers don't earn that much unless they're top QCs, but because I felt drawn to it. so please, do not put me down for what I am doing, just as I would never do that to any of you
 
Hon I'm with you all the way on this one. The jokes and comments i've had to put up with from telling people that i'm a law student, and actually have a law degree. The way I see it is that there is good and bad in every profession, you dont tend to hear about the good things that lawyers do, just the horrid things to live up to the stereotype.

Like you I worked my butt of to get where I am today, studying full time, having a part time job to pay fees and rent, while vowing not to give up the boards as it was the one thing that kept me sane. It is not easy doing what we do, just like its not easy in other professions (before anyone says anything) We are mainly following the rules that have been set up by our predeccessors, it is no fault of ours if they on occasion suck. It takes a long time, to change them if they indeed can be changed.

Like everyone else I do not agree with many things that happen in our judicial system. The person inside me screams blue murder at the things, but the lawyer in side me can understand why it has happened, be it good or bad.

I wish you good luck in your chosen field Willow hon, for me its a decision between International Human Rights (Civil Service) or a niche firm, hopefully in Copyright/entertainment law. I'm proud to be where I am right now, i'm 21 and have a law degree, something I never thought I would ever do.

Ok this is turning into a rant (see what that Willow does to me!)

And on the subejct posted, the insurance company deserved what they got, they should have known better to insure something thats purpose is carried out by using small fires. There are some crazy, crazy cases out their. Like the woman who tried to sue british rail because when the train stopped suddenly she broke a nail!
 
Originally posted by Faith
while vowing not to give up the boards as it was the one thing that kept me sane.

alas we failed to keep faith sane....
thanks for backing me up Faith; I'm not forgetting the fact it was you 4 years ago, who was advising me when I said I wanted to study law; when I was sweet and innocent 14, not knowing how evil the world could be.... *cough cough*
 
Originally posted by Willow
alas we failed to keep faith sane....
thanks for backing me up Faith; I'm not forgetting the fact it was you 4 years ago, who was advising me when I said I wanted to study law; when I was sweet and innocent 14, not knowing how evil the world could be.... *cough cough*

Its not been that long, i think about 2 years ago. Another main point to make is that we spend years being taught to manipulate the system to work for us, so its really no wonder that some people do turn. Its all about the person not the job they are in.

And you sweet and innocent....not a hope in hell missy. Just remember young Padwan who the master is in this realtionship 😉
 
I'll remind you of that if you ever fall and suffer a hideous injury at the hands of some despicable firm...

Which would be my fault for being a clumsey idiot and gives me no right to leech money from ppl.
 
whats the average wage for a qualified lawyer, just wondering cos when i finish my training i start on £15500 or $24,000.
 
There really is no average wage as far as I know in Britain, when you start out being a barrister (asI'm doing) you do your degree, then BVC year, then you do the "pupillage" which is a year working as a barrister, under a more senior barrister. Unfortunately you don't get paid for this year's work, and then as a barrister you are paid on a case by case basis; you literally are self employed, and if you're crap, you don't get anything. if you're good, you get better and better cases; it's only if you get to QC you earn mega bucks, working in the High court, Court of Appeal. So really there is no average wage, it depends on teh field of law you go into, how good you are, how good your chambers and clerks are, where you're working and so on. It's why you have to learn so much and it's so competitive, you quite literally can earn nothing in a year if you don't know your stuff; one barrister I've worked with was only earning about £12, 000 a year at teh time, because he wasn't established, was a cantakerous old thing, wasn't getting the work, and considering the expenses you have, travelling to the courts and things, it ain't a lot.
 
Back
Top Bottom