90 Chicken Corp. v 90 Jericho Realty Corp.

Holding The Appellate Division affirmed the lower court’s denial of specific performance and award of nominal damages, finding that the plaintiff failed to prove lost future profits with reasonable certainty. The court determined that the plaintiff did not demonstrate that the defendant was able to deliver the property or that there was no adequate remedy at law.

The court’s words

The equitable remedy of specific performance is a discretionary remedy that provides an alternative to an award of damages as a means of enforcing a contract

2026 NY Slip Op 05258, at the official text

The decision whether to grant or deny the remedy of specific performance lies within the discretion of the court and should not be granted 'where it would cause unreasonable hardship or injustice'

2026 NY Slip Op 05258, at the official text

The record shows that the plaintiff failed to sustain its burden of demonstrating, among other things, that the defendant was able to deliver the property to the plaintiff and that there was no adequate remedy at law

2026 NY Slip Op 05258, at the official text

We further discern no basis to disturb the Supreme Court's award of $1 in nominal damages with respect to the plaintiff's cause of action to recover damages in the form of lost future profits

2026 NY Slip Op 05258, at the official text

due to, inter alia, the speculative nature of the plaintiff's proof in this regard and the plaintiff's failure to meet its burden of proving lost future profits for its prospective future business with the requisite level of reasonable certainty

2026 NY Slip Op 05258, at the official text