Lynch v. Sease

JULIA SMITH GIBBONS, Circuit Judge.

Counterdefendant-appellant Francis B. Lynch appeals the district court’s denial of his renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law after a jury found in favor of eounterplaintiffs-appellees Randy Sease and Brenda Waltz on their claim of promissory estoppel under South Carolina law. For the following reasons, we reverse the judgment of the district court.

i.

In late 1991 or early 1992, Lynch engaged Sease and Waltz for assistance with arranging financing for his acquisition of Somerset Oil. Lynch orally agreed to pay Sease and Waltz a $1.5 million “finder’s…