William Butcher Steel Works v. Atkinson

Citations

• 68 Ill. 421

Syllabus

<p>1. Statute of frauds—contract extending beyond one year. A verbal contract to enter the service of another for the period of three years, is within the Statute of Frauds, and can not be enforced.</p> <p>3. Same—contract, when molded after partial performance, does not control as to the compensation. Where the plaintiff was employed verbally to enter the service of the defendant for the period of three years, and was to have the exclusive agency of selling goods manufactured by the defendant, in certain territory, and on all sales was to receive a commission of five per cent, and he performed services under the contract for ten months, when he was discharged without cause, and the defendant, when sued for a breach of the contract, pleaded the Statute of Frauds in avoidance of the contract, it was held, that the plaintiff might, under the quantum meruit counts, recover what the services performed by him and the expenses incurred by him were reasonably worth, and was not bound by the contract as to his compensation. The contract, being avoided without his fault, no longer furnished the measure of his recovery.</p>