Siegel v. Spear & Co.

William Siegel (plaintiff) arranged to store furniture at Spear & Co.'s (defendant) storehouse for free, with Spear's credit man also promising to obtain insurance on the furniture on Siegel's behalf; Siegel delivered the furniture, but Spear never obtained the promised insurance, and the storehouse subsequently burned down, destroying the uninsured furniture. Siegel sued for his losses, won at trial and on two levels of appellate review, and Spear appealed further, arguing its promise to insure lacked consideration and was therefore unenforceable.