Business Associations Keyed to Hamilton
Meinhard v. Salmon
ProfessorTodd Berman
CaseCast™ – "What you need to know"
Facts
Geery leased to Salmon (D) a New York hotel on Fifth Avenue for twenty years. Meinhard (P) entered into a joint venture with Salmon (D), contributing money while Salmon (D) ran the enterprise. Near the end of the lease, Gerry, who owned the hotel and adjacent property, wanted to destroy all the buildings to construct one large building. Gerry couldn’t find a new lease to agree to this. Instead, he approached Salmon (D) with the plan when there was less than four months left on Salmon’s (D) joint lease with Meinhard (P). Salmon (D) ended up with a twenty year lease to own and control Midpoint Realty Company. Meinhard (P) was never informed of any of this. When he learned of it, Meinhard (P) demanded Salmon (D) hold the lease in a trust as an asset to the venture, but was refused. The following action awarded Meinhard (P) a 25% interest in the lease, one-half of his value in the hotel lease proportionate to the new lease, this was increased to 50% on appeal. Salmon (D) appealed stating he hadn’t breached duty to Meinhard (P).
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