Cosgrove v. Bartolotta

150 F.3d 729 (1998)

Study Aids
Case Briefs Overview
Casebooks
Case Briefs
C
From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Cosgrove v. Bartolotta

United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
150 F.3d 729 (1998)

DM
Play video

Facts

Joseph Bartolotta (defendant) asked Barry Cosgrove (plaintiff), a friend who worked as a corporate lawyer, to assist him with opening a restaurant. Bartolotta asked Cosgrove for a $100,000 loan as well as financial and legal advice. He promised to repay the loan with interest within three years and to give Cosgrove a 19 percent ownership stake in the venture. Bartolotta received Cosgrove’s legal assistance and obtained bank financing with the help of Cosgrove’s financial pledge. Cosgrove never provided the loan, however, because Bartolotta used an alternative source of financing. Bartolotta did not give Cosgrove an ownership interest in the business. After the restaurant proved successful, Cosgrove filed suit against Bartolotta. A jury awarded Cosgrove $117,000 for promissory estoppel, $17,000 for unjust enrichment, and $1,000 for misrepresentation. On Bartolotta’s motion, the court ruled in his favor on the promissory estoppel claim, taking away the jury verdict on that issue. The verdicts regarding misrepresentation and unjust enrichment were allowed to stand. Cosgrove appealed the judgment regarding promissory estoppel. Bartolotta appealed the judgments regarding misrepresentation and unjust enrichment but did not take specific issue with any of the amounts awarded.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Posner, C.J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 803,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Berkeley, and Northwestern—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 803,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 803,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,300 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Casebooks

Contracts

Key Terms