On January 24, 2023, the First Department issued a decision in Cullity v. Posner, 2023 NY Slip Op. 00263, holding that the parties were bound by an oral contract, explaining:
The court’s finding that defendants established an oral contract between themselves and plaintiff with respect to the post-divorce loans was amply supported by the evidence. An oral agreement is enforceable so long as its terms are in line with the parties’ reasonable expectations, and the parties’ conduct evinces mutual assent, even where the terms of the contract are not fixed with absolute certainty. Here, the parties manifested their assent to the loan through their actions: defendants repeatedly deposited money directly into plaintiff’s bank account, to which plaintiff did not object. Those checks were, for the most part, earmarked as “loans.” Plaintiff’s subsequent partial repayments of the loan, behavior typically exhibited only by parties who owe money, further demonstrated the parties’ mutual assent and understanding to the terms of the agreement and the expectation of repayment.
(Internal citations omitted).