On March 24, 2026, Justice Masley of the New York County Commercial Division issued a decision in CRI Holdings Inc. v. Est4te Four Capital LLC, 2026 NY Slip Op. 31197(U), holding that a contract need not be in writing to be binding, explaining:
Though it is true that plaintiffs have not alleged the existence of a written agreement, there is no requirement that a contract be in writing to be valid.
At some point virtually every agreement can be said to have a degree of indefiniteness, and if the doctrine is applied with a heavy hand it may defeat the reasonable expectations of the parties in entering into the contract. While there must be a manifestation of mutual assent to essential terms, parties also should be held to their promises and courts should not be pedantic or meticulous in interpreting contract expressions. The conclusion that a party’s promise should be ignored as meaningless is at best a last resort.
Here, plaintiffs have alleged the terms of the parties’ agreements with sufficient definiteness to survive a motion to dismiss.
(Internal quotations and citations omitted).
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