California Chicks, Inc. v. Viebrock

This is an appeal from a judgment upholding an affirmative defense tried specially by order of the court in a bifurcated trial for damages for breach of contract. The trial court found the contract upon which plaintiff based its claim for damages, which called for the purchase of eggs, to be unenforceable upon the ground that plaintiff had no farm produce dealer’s license. (Agr. Code, § 1263.)

Plaintiff, who was in the business of purchasing chicken eggs, hatching them, and selling one-day-old chicks, entered into a contract with defendant, a poultry breeder and dealer in eggs, for the…