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Pruess v. Stark

SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE TERM, FIRST DEPARTMENT
Jan 21, 2020
66 Misc. 3d 137 (N.Y. App. Term 2020)

Opinion

570586/19

01-21-2020

Joanna H. PRUESS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Ivy STARK, Defendant-Respondent.


Per Curiam.

Judgment (Dakota D. Ramseur, J.), entered February 7, 2019, affirmed, without costs.

Civil Court applied the appropriate rules and principles of substantive law and accomplished "substantial justice" in dismissing plaintiff's breach of contract action (CCA 1804, 1807). A fair interpretation of the evidence supports the finding that plaintiff is not entitled to payment from defendant. Under the plain terms of the governing contract, defendant was not required to pay plaintiff for services rendered until defendant received proceeds from the nonparty book publisher, a contingency that did not occur. Particularly in the context of small claims cases, the decision of the fact-finding court is entitled to deference where it rests in large measure on considerations relating to the credibility of witnesses (see Williams v Roper, 269 AD2d 125 [2000] lv dismissed 95 NY2d 898 [2000] ).

THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF THE COURT.


Summaries of

Pruess v. Stark

SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE TERM, FIRST DEPARTMENT
Jan 21, 2020
66 Misc. 3d 137 (N.Y. App. Term 2020)
Case details for

Pruess v. Stark

Case Details

Full title:Joanna H. Pruess, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Ivy Stark, Defendant-Respondent.

Court:SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE TERM, FIRST DEPARTMENT

Date published: Jan 21, 2020

Citations

66 Misc. 3d 137 (N.Y. App. Term 2020)
2020 N.Y. Slip Op. 50056
120 N.Y.S.3d 693