Byker v. Mannes

David Byker (plaintiff) and Tom Mannes (defendant), without any formal written agreement, jointly ran multiple business ventures as general partners or shareholders, splitting profits and losses equally; when one venture struggled, both men contributed additional funds from other ventures and personally, until Mannes refused to contribute further while Byker continued alone. After all their joint ventures ended, Byker sought equalizing payments from Mannes to balance their respective losses, which Mannes refused, and Byker sued claiming a general partnership existed across their activities. The trial court agreed with Byker, but the appellate court reversed, holding Michigan law required the parties to have subjectively intended to form a partnership; Byker appealed further.