Bronson v. Purcell

Plaintiffs brought this action to recover damages from defendant Purcell1 for a “secret profit” that he allegedly received from the buyer in a real property transaction in which Purcell and plaintiffs or their predecessors, as joint venturers, were the sellers. Shortly before trial, the trial court refused plaintiffs’ demand to empanel a jury, because it concluded that plaintiffs’ fourth amended complaint “does not disclose that the affairs of the alleged joint venture have been closed” and, therefore, that the case is “in the nature of a proceeding for an accounting,” triable to the court.…