Genova Burns LLC v. New Yorkers for Bill Thompson

2017 NY Slip Op 1781, 148 A.D.3d 456, 47 N.Y.S.3d 907

• Court: Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
• Decided: March 9, 2017
• Docket: 3138 155282/15
• Status: Published

Opinion

Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Barry R. Ostrager, J.), entered November 16, 2015, which granted the individual defendants’ motion to dismiss the complaint as against them, unanimously affirmed, without costs.

Plaintiff’s retainer agreement, which engaged plaintiff for representation in connection with a post-campaign audit, was executed by defendant James Ross solely in his representative capacity as treasurer of defendant New Yorkers for Bill Thompson and was not executed by defendant candidate at all. Nor was the personal liability of the individual defendants contemplated. Accordingly, the individual defendants are not personally liable under the agreement (see Seaver v Ransom, 224 NY 233, 237 [1918]; Salzman Sign Co. v Beck, 10 NY2d 63 [1961]; Richmond Adv./Reinhold Assoc. v Del Guidice, 66 AD2d 701 [1st Dept 1978]).

Plaintiff has abandoned its claims for unjust enrichment, quantum meruit, and account stated (see Hardwick v Auriemma, 116 AD3d 465, 468 [1st Dept 2014], lv denied 23 NY3d 908 [2014]).

We have considered plaintiff’s remaining contentions and find them unavailing.

Concur — Richter, J.P., Manzanet-Daniels, Gische, Webber and Kahn, JJ.