The essential elements of a cause of action to recover damages for breach of contract are the existence of a contract, the plaintiff's performance pursuant to the contract, the defendant's breach of its contractual obligations, and damages resulting from the breach. Here, in support of their motion for summary judgment dismissing the claim, the defendants submitted transcripts of the parties' deposition testimony, which provided differing accounts regarding the existence of an agreement, and emails which had been exchanged between the parties and their attorneys. The defendants' evidence failed to eliminate triable issues of fact as to whether the parties had agreed upon the agreement's major terms and whether the parties began to perform the agreement. As such, they failed to establish, prima facie, that the parties had not reached an agreement. Since the defendants failed to establish their prima facie entitlement to judgment as a matter of law, their motion is denied wihout considering the sufficiency of the plaintiffs' opposition.
223 Sam, LLC v. 223 15th St., LLC, NY Slip Op 06224 (2d Dep't November 9, 2022)
