On March 15, 2022, the First Department issued a decision in Future Star Hospitality Advisors, LLC v. LaFrieda Veal & Lamb Co., Inc., 2022 NY Slip Op. 01735, holding that a plaintiff cannot use quasi-contract claims to avoid the effect of the statute of frauds, explaining:
The motion court correctly found that the breach of contract claim in the original complaint fell squarely within the business opportunity provision of the statute of frauds, and that the quasi-contractual claims of quantum meruit and unjust enrichment in the amended complaint were simply repackaged versions of the dismissed breach of contract claim. Plaintiff is not permitted to pursue quasi-contractual claims for the sole purpose of circumventing the statute of frauds.
(Internal quotations and citations omitted).