247 A.D. 390 | N.Y. App. Div. | 1936
Plaintiff sued to recover for the reasonable value of services alleged to have been performed in procuring a purchaser “ who would sell for the defendants all of the roses grown * * * by defendant Scarborough Nurseries, Inc.,” between August, 1934, and April, 1935. The jury rendered a verdict against both defendants in the sum of $1,500.
It is not disputed that the plaintiff introduced Morton Goldfarb, the president of M. Goldfarb — My Florist, Inc., to the president of the defendant bank. The contract of M. Goldfarb — My Florist, Inc., with the defendant Westchester County Savings Bank provided that the roses were to be delivered on consignment to it and the latter was to receive fifteen per cent commission on all sales made.
The plaintiff failed to offer any proof which might sustain a finding in his favor for the reasonable value of the services rendered in introducing or even indirectly bringing about the sale by defendants of the roses. The jury, therefore, was left in the dark on the "question of the value of the type of services plaintiff rendered. In arriving at its verdict it necessarily must have entered into the field of speculation in order to bring about a substantial recovery in favor of the plaintiff.
“ It is well settled in this jurisdiction that there must be evidence of the value of services, other than that showing the nature and extent thereof, in order to authorize a recovery on quantum meruit of more than a nominal amount therefor.” (Winch v. Warner, 186 App. Div. 710.)
It may well be upon a new trial the plaintiff will be in a position to offer the necessary proof.
The judgment should be reversed and a new trial ordered, with costs to the appellants to abide the event.
Martin, P. J., McAvoy and Untermyer, JJ., concur.
■ Judgment unanimously reversed and a new trial ordered, with costs to the appellants to abide the event.