Morrison Mahoney Associate Ashley Theodore received a defense verdict in the 9th Circuit District Court (NH).
The Court rendered a defense verdict in a breach-of-contract case involving the provision of post-operative care to our client. Our client, who was single and elderly, had undergone eye surgery. Following that, she requested that the unemployed plaintiff, who also was her neighbor, provide general care to her as she recovered. As an alleged gift, our client took the plaintiff with her to Florida for two weeks, where she had family and where the plaintiff had friends whom he intended to visit. Upon completion of the trip, our client also gave the plaintiff several hundred dollars. The plaintiff refused to accept the money and demanded payment of several thousand dollars. At trial, Ashley successfully argued (1) that there was no oral or written agreement regarding any compensation owed to the plaintiff, (2) that the trip and payment that our client offered to the plaintiff was a gift, and (3) that the plaintiff provided services to our client as a volunteer and friend.
