Messner Vetere Berger McNamee Schmetterer Euro RSCG Inc., Appellant, v. Aegis Group plc, Respondent., 93 N.Y.2d 229

Summary

A federal appeals court certified two questions seeking a determination whether the part performance doctrine was adequately stated by appellant's claim that no action was taken on a preexisting written agreement in reliance on an oral promise, and whether an allegation of part performance by appellee alone stated a claim under the part performance doctrine. Appellant purchased majority ownership of a successor firm to a corporation that had leased two floors of a building until it was acquired by appellee, a foreign corporation. Appellee made some payments on the successor firm's lease before terminating all involvement with respect to the lease. Appellant claimed that appellee orally agreed to assume the lease, and that its conduct in making lease payments was sufficient to invoke the part performance doctrine. Appellee argued that the complaint was barred by the statute of frauds, which contained no part performance exception. The state supreme court agreed and affirmed the ...