Issue

Agreement by father to pay son's legal bills—enforceability—sufficiency of email correspondence—memorandum or note

Summary

In an action filed by plaintiff law firm to collect monies owed for legal services it provided to defendant's son, defendant's oral promise to pay his son's legal bills was enforceable where his email correspondence with the firm constituted a sufficient written "memorandum or note" of his promise, thereby satisfying the statute of frauds requirement (N.C.G.S. § 22-1); therefore, the Court of Appeals' decision reversing the trial court's judgment in favor of the law firm was itself reversed. Defendant's emails, though informal, were signed by defendant and provided adequate evidence of the essential terms of his oral guaranty, including the debt owed (the legal fees), the principal debtor (defendant's son), the promisor (defendant), and the promisee (the law firm). Notably, the emails indicated both defendant's ongoing involvement in managing his son's legal affairs and his commitment to paying his son's debt to the firm, including: an assurance that an "invoice" for "services rendered" by the firm would be "turned around promptly"; a request that the firm send all invoices directly to defendant's email; and a recurring use of plural pronouns like "us" and "our," suggesting a shared responsibility between him and his son.

Summary from the North Carolina Reports digest (official subject index). Read the opinion →