Opinion ID: 482811
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Adequacy of the Proof of Damages

Text: 46 The Trustees contend that Krear's proof of damages was insufficient to support the jury's verdict because the claim of lost profits of the new corporation was entirely speculative and the John Krear and Weiner employment contracts were improperly submitted to the jury as evidence of damages. We find no merit in these contentions. 47 The fact that a business has not been long established does not mean that its projected profits are unduly speculative, see Lee v. Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc., 552 F.2d 447, 455 (2d Cir.1977) (applying New York law and finding damages not too speculative when based on lost profits of business that had not yet begun), so long as there is a rational basis on which to calculate the lost profits, Perma Research & Development Co. v. Singer Co., 402 F.Supp. 881, 898 (S.D.N.Y.1975), aff'd, 542 F.2d 111 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 987, 97 S.Ct. 507, 50 L.Ed.2d 598 (1976); see also Kenford Co. v. County of Erie, 108 A.D.2d 132, 140-41, 489 N.Y.S.2d 939, 946 (4th Dep't 1985), aff'd, 67 N.Y.2d 257, 502 N.Y.S.2d 131, 493 N.E.2d 234 (1986). When the plaintiff has presented evidence of the minimum and maximum amounts it expected to receive pursuant to a written contract and evidence as to payments it has obligated itself to make, it lies well within the trial court's discretion to submit the issue of lost profits to the jury, and the jury has  'a large amount of discretion in determining the amount of its verdict.'  Lee v. Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc., 552 F.2d at 456 (quoting 5 Corbin on Contracts, Sec. 1022, at 146 (1964)). 48 Here, Krear presented evidence of, inter alia, the actual profits it made in the four months prior to the termination of the Contracts, a projection of total profits it expected over the life of the Contracts, based on its four-month experience, and the employment contract expenses to which it had contractually obligated itself even if it made no profit from the Contracts. The court was well within the proper bounds of discretion to submit the damages issue to the jury. The jury awarded $269,400, an amount closely related to the compensation that Krear had bound itself to pay its two executives; this award was within the jury's discretion. 49