—by Shannon Crane
Littleton Constr. Ltd. v. Huber Constr., Inc., No. 96, 2016 N.Y. LEXIS 1688 (June 14, 2016).
***
In Littleton Construction Ltd. v. Huber Construction, Inc, plaintiff commenced a proceeding against defendants Huber Construction, Inc. (“Huber”) and Littleton/Huber Joint Venture (the “Joint Venture”) seeking a portion of the management fees collected by Huber as part of the payment for projects completed by the parties in connection with a joint venture. Huber Construction, Inc. (Huber) and Littleton/Huber Joint Venture (the joint venture) seek a portion of the management fee. 2016 N.Y. Slip Op. 04657, at 1–2. Defendants moved for summary judgment, and the motion relied upon the validity and interpretation of the party relationship governing documents. Id. at 2. The trial court partially granted defendants’ motion, leaving one claim seeking recovery of a portion of management fees. The Appellate Division dismissed the complaint in its entirety. Id.
The issue before the Court of Appeals was the parties’ dispute over which agreement governed the joint venture relationship. Pursuant to the motion for summary judgment, defendants met their evidentiary burden of establishing that the Operating Agreement was not executed by Huber, and was thus unenforceable. Id. The joint venture cannot be governed by the terms of an unenforceable document. Id. Because the terms of the Operating Agreement were not enforceable, the Court determined that the Memorandum of Understanding governed the relationship. Littleton Construction Ltd. 2016 N.Y. Slip Op. 04657, at 2 (N.Y. 2016). The Memorandum of Understanding plainly provided for a 9 percent management fee to Huber, which Huber was not required to share with the plaintiff. When a contract is complete, clear and unambiguous, it must be enforced according to its plain meaning; thus, defendants were entitled to summary judgment. Id.