You Be the Judge! Page 73

ASE: 8

ISSUE BEFORE THE COURT

Whether there are sufficient facts to prove that a partnership existed
between two individuals.

THE FACTS

You Be the Judge!

Dysfunctional

partnerships are

a major source of

business failure.

Sandra Kruger Lerner was a successful entrepreneur and an expe-

rienced businesswoman. She and her husband, Len Bosack, were the
original founders of Cisco Systems, a very successful computer company.
When she sold her interest in that company, she received a substantial
amount of money, and her net worth was in excess of $47 million at the
time of the trial.

Patricia Holmes was a horse trainer when she met Lerner in late

1993. Lerner visited Holmes' horse training facility to arrange for the
training and boarding of two horses she imported from England.
Holmes and Lerner became friends, and a er an initial six-month
training contract expired, Holmes continued to train Lerner's horses
without a contract and without cost.

In 1995, Lerner asked Holmes to travel to England with her to

attend a horse show and to buy horses with her. While in England,
Lerner decided that she wanted to celebrate her 40th birthday by
going out to pubs in Dublin, Ireland.

As the two got dressed in Lerner's mansion outside of London,

Lerner gave Holmes a manicuring kit, telling her to nd a color Hol-
mes could wear. Lerner wore what Holmes termed "alternative clothes"
with black nail polish and encouraged Holmes to do the same. Holmes,
however, did not like black nail polish and was unable to nd a suitable
color in the English stores. Holmes looked through the kit, tried di erent
colors, and eventually developed her own color by layering a raspberry
color over black nail polish. is produced a purple color that Holmes
liked. Holmes showed the new color to Lerner, who also liked it.

On July 31, 1995, the two friends returned from England. While

sitting at the kitchen table in Lerner's posh West Hollywood condo-
minium, they discussed nail polish and colors. Lerner's husband was
in and out of the room during the conversation.

For almost two hours, Lerner and Holmes worked to try to recre-

For Evaluation Purposes Only