Missouri Court of Appeals for the Eastern District in St. Louis
ST. LOUIS — The Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District has reversed judgments totaling more than $1 million in a business dispute involving aircraft transactions, office space and hangar expenses, finding that a jury received an erroneous instruction on one claim and that insufficient evidence supported damages on another.
In a July 21 opinion, the court reversed a $975,000 quantum meruit verdict for The Ritchie Group LLC and a $100,000 breach-of-contract verdict for Air Sansone LLC.
The case was remanded in part to the St. Louis Circuit Court.
The litigation arose from an unwritten business relationship between Scott Ritchie and Stephen Lieber.
Ritchie founded The Ritchie Group to buy, sell and lease corporate jets and helicopters for clients as a broker. Lieber founded Air Sansone to buy, sell and lease aircraft, and also founded Lieber Spirit, which owns a hangar at Spirit of St. Louis Airport.
According to the opinion, Ritchie and Lieber made an oral agreement in 2018 that gave The Ritchie Group office space with Lieber Spirit in exchange for helping Air Sansone buy, sell and lease aircraft.
The companies worked together on multiple transactions, and The Ritchie Group made physical improvements to the hangar, which also includes space for aircraft, exotic sports cars, offices and conferences.
The relationship later deteriorated. Ritchie raised concerns in 2020 that the original agreement was imbalanced and again sought payment in 2021 for work by his company and building-improvement expenses.
In July 2022, Ritchie sought commissions for his work. Lieber agreed but said Ritchie would need to begin paying rent. They also agreed on fees involving three aircraft transactions. Lieber paid commissions on two aircraft but only partially paid the third, citing unpaid rent.
Lieber asked Ritchie to move out in July 2023.
The Ritchie Group sued Air Sansone and Lieber Spirit, while Air Sansone separately sued The Ritchie Group. The cases were consolidated for a jury trial.
The jury found for The Ritchie Group on its quantum meruit claim and awarded $975,000, while also finding for Air Sansone on its breach-of-contract claim for unpaid rent and awarding $100,000.
The appeals court found that the instruction given to jurors on The Ritchie Group’s quantum meruit claim did not comply with Missouri’s approved jury instructions. The instruction listed several possible categories of services, including buying, selling or leasing aircraft; performing services beyond those of a typical broker; and managing, improving or purchasing items for the hangar. It used “and/or” language and omitted a conjunction included in the approved format.
The court said the instruction was grammatically incorrect, used undefined and ambiguous terms and was too broad to identify the specific conduct that could establish liability.
It also found insufficient evidence to support portions of the instruction, including the suggestion that The Ritchie Group performed work beyond that of a typical broker and management services at the hangar.
The court further ruled that Air Sansone had not presented sufficient evidence of the reasonable rental value for the part of the hangar occupied by The Ritchie Group.
Lieber testified that operating the entire hangar cost between $290,000 and $325,000 annually, but the court said he did not connect those operating costs to rent or provide facts or data establishing a reasonable rental value for the occupied space.
Without evidence of reasonable rental value, the court said, the jury was left to speculate about damages.
The court reversed the judgment on the unpaid-rent claim as well as the quantum meruit judgment, concluding that the remaining issues raised on appeal did not need to be addressed because the result could differ on retrial.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, case number: ED113745
