The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined summary judgment should not have been granted in favor of defendants’ counterclaim for a finder’s fee. General Obligations Law 5-701(a)(1) (Statute of Frauds) applies to contracts for services rendered in negotiating a business opportunity. In finding the writings did not satisfy the Statute of Frauds, the court explained the relevant criteria:
The memorandum necessary to satisfy the statute of frauds may be pieced together out of separate writings, connected with one another either expressly or by the internal evidence of subject matter and occasion … . In the event that one of the writings is unsigned, it may be read together with the signed writings, provided that they clearly refer to the same subject matter or transaction … . Here, the collective writings to which the defendants point, seeking to make out a written agreement sufficient to satisfy the statute of frauds … , are insufficient since there is no writing establishing a contractual relationship between the parties which bears the signature of the plaintiff, who is the party to be charged … .
Additionally, part performance does not take the matter out of the statute of frauds. The exception to the statute of frauds for part performance has not been extended to General Obligations Law § 5-701… . Kelly v P & G Ventures 1, LLC, 2017 NY Slip Op 02026, 2nd Dept 3-22-17
CONTRACT LAW (STATUTE OF FRAUDS (GENERAL OBLIGATIONS LAW) REQUIREMENTS FOR A CONTRACT TO NEGOTIATE A BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY NOT MET, PART PERFORMANCE NOT APPLICABLE)/STATUTE OF FRAUDS (GENERAL OBLIGATIONS LAW) REQUIREMENTS FOR A CONTRACT TO NEGOTIATE A BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY NOT MET, PART PERFORMANCE NOT APPLICABLE)/GENERAL OBLIGATIONS LAW (STATUTE OF FRAUDS, (GENERAL OBLIGATIONS LAW) REQUIREMENTS FOR A CONTRACT TO NEGOTIATE A BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY NOT MET, PART PERFORMANCE NOT APPLICABLE)