By way of Amend v. 485 Properties , 409 F3d 1288 11th Cir. 2005, the United States Court of Appeals asked this Court to decide “whether procuring cause is an element of a quantum meruit claim under Georgia law.” In the context of this case, the short answer is “yes.” When a real estate broker brings a quantum meruit claim to recover the value of his services under Georgia law, he must prove that he was the procuring cause of the sale. The facts giving rise to this question are set forth at length in Amend v. 485 Properties , 401 F3d 1255 11th Cir. 2005. We summarize them as follows: John Amend, a licensed real estate broker, is president of WorkPlace USA. WorkPlace was the leasing agent of WorldCom, Inc., which leased space in two buildings owned by 485 Properties. Because WorldCom’s lease was going to expire, 485 Properties approached WorldCom to renegotiate its lease. WorldCom instructed 485 Properties to deal with WorkPlace, its agent. 485
Properties and WorkPlace negotiated a deal calling for WorldCom to lease one of the buildings for 10 years, and providing that 485 Properties would pay WorkPlace a fee contingent upon renewal of the lease. WorldCom signed the lease, but 485 Properties refused to sign because WorldCom’s imminent financial demise had become apparent. When WorldCom filed for bankruptcy, a new leasing agent was appointed to represent WorldCom. That agent successfully negotiated lease agreements for WorldCom to remain in one of the buildings, but to rent less space. Thereafter, Amend sued 485 Properties seeking damages for breach of its fee contract, or alternatively, quantum meruit. The district court granted summary judgment to 485 Properties on both the breach of contract and quantum meruit claims, finding, inter alia, that 1 the contract was unenforceable because WorkPlace was not a licensed real estate broker and 2 quantum meruit did not lie because the lease was never finalized. The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the grant of summary judgment on the contract claim, but reserved decision on the quantum meruit claim to seek an answer to the question posed to this Court. Id. at 1258.
