Liss v. Manuel

This action is brought to collect $6,070.03 on a somewhat unusual written contract of indemnity. Plaintiff contends it is a simple and straightforward contract; defendant argues it is the embodiment of an illegal and unenforcible gambling arrangement.

The dispute arises out of the ill-fated efforts of the parties, gripped by speculative fever, to cash in on the elusive “ sure thing,” and to create iron-clad guarantees to firm up the slippery grip of chance. Plaintiff was a patron of a gymnasium where defendant was employed as a masseur. In the course of their conversation which turned to…