James A. Geller v. The New England Industries, Inc., and Standard Development Co., Inc.

VAN GRAAFEILAND, Circuit Judge

(concurring):

I agree that the judgment appealed from cannot stand and . that there must be a new trial. However, because it is not at all clear to me how the jury arrived at the unimaginative figure of $100,000, and because the facts below were not developed with crystalline clarity, I am more hesitant than my brothers to set guidelines for the retrial.

I would only suggest that, on retrial, counsel exercise greater diligence in establishing the proof necessary for a recovery in quantum meruit. Where, as here, plaintiff claims to have represented both buyer and seller, his recovery, if any, against the buyer should be limited to the value of the services he performed for the buyer. Such value is not established simply by showing the customary real estate commission for a broker representing a single client. Zuckerman v. Martin, 29 Misc.2d 634, 641, 210 N.Y.S.2d 124 (New York City Ct.1960); Eadie v. Arc Wood Development, Inc., 19 Misc.2d 98, 101, 189 N.Y.S.2d 340 (Westchester County Ct.1959).