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To state a claim for breach of a joint venture agreement, the joint venture must be established by alleging the following elements:

1. The elements of an ordinary contract;
2. Community of interests in the performance of the common purpose;
3. Joint control or right of control;
4. Joint proprietary interest in the subject matter;
5. Right to share in the profits; and
6. Duty to share in the losses.

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To state a claim for breach of a joint venture agreement, the joint venture must be established by alleging the following elements:

1. The elements of an ordinary contract;
2. Community of interests in the performance of the common purpose;
3. Joint control or right of control;
4. Joint proprietary interest in the subject matter;
5. Right to share in the profits; and
6. Duty to share in the losses.

A joint venture agreement creates a fiduciary relationship, requiring good faith and fair dealings between parties. See De Ribeaux v. Del Valle, 531 So. 2d 993, 994 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988); Bluesky Greenland Envtl.  Solutions, LLC v. 21st Century Planet Fund, LLC, 985 F.Supp.2d 1356, 1365 (S.D. Fla. 2013).

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FLORIDA STATE COURTS

Supreme Court: Jackson-Shaw Co. v. Jacksonville Aviation Auth., 8 So. 3d 1076, 1089 (Fla. 2008).

First District: USA Independence Mobile Home Sales, Inc. v. City of Lake City, 908 So. 2d 1151, 1158 (Fla. 1st DCA 2005).

Second District: Stonepeak Partners, LP v. Tall Tower Cap., LLC, 231 So. 3d 548, 553 (Fla. 2d DCA 2017); Phillips v. U.S. Fid. & Guar. Co., 155 So. 2d 415, 418 (Fla. 2d DCA 1963).

Third District: Marriott Int’l, Inc. v. Am. Bridge Bahamas, Ltd., 193 So. 3d 902, 906 (Fla. 3d DCA 2015); E & H Cruises, Ltd. v. Baker, 88 So. 3d 291, 295 (Fla. 3rd DCA 2012).

Fourth District: Shoreline Found., Inc. v. Brisk, 278 So.3d 68, 73 (Fla. 4th DCA 2019); Dev. Corp. v. WBC Constr., L.L.C., 925 So.2d 1156, 1161 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006).

Fifth District: S & W Air Vac Sys., Inc. v. Dep’t of Revenue, State of Fla., 697 So. 2d 1313, 1315 (Fla. 5th DCA 1997).

FLORIDA FEDERAL COURTS

Eleventh Circuit: In re Hallucination Media, LLC, No. 24-10194, 2024 WL 3898536, at *6 (11th Cir. Aug. 22, 2024), Wolf v. Celebrity Cruises, Inc., 683 F. App’x 786, 798 (11th Cir. 2017); Williams v. Obstfeld, 314 F.3d 1270, 1275-76 (11th Cir. 2002).

Southern District:Blow v. Carnival Corp., 2023 WL 3686840, *10 (S.D. Fla. May 26, 2023); Owen v. Carnival Corp., 2022 WL 1404602, *4 (S.D. Fla. May 4, 2022); Barham v. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., 556 F.Supp.3d 1318, 1330 (S.D. Fla. 2021); Gammons v. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., 558 F.Supp.3d 1220, 1226 (S.D. Fla. 2021).

Middle District: In re: Hallucination Media, LLC v. The Ritz Ybor, LLC, 2022 WL 1537829, *10 (M.D. Fla. Feb. 22, 2022); Runway Farms, LLC v. Oakes Farms, Inc., No. 2:20-CV-979-SPC-MRM, 2021 WL 2258504, at *3 (M.D. Fla. June 3, 2021) (applying the joint venture elements in the context of partnerships); Dish Network L.L.C v. Fraifer, No. 8:16-cv-2549-T-60CPT, 2020 WL 1515938, at *23 n.31 (M.D. Fla. January 31, 2020); Premier Gaming Trailers, LLC v. Luna Diversified Enterprises, Inc., 304 F.Supp.3d 1270, 1281 (M.D. Fla. 2018) (discussing a person’s actual or apparent authority to enter into a joint venture agreement).

Northern District: Cmty. Mar. Park Assocs., Inc. v. Mar. Park Dev. Partners, LLC, No. 3:11CV60/MCR/CJK, 2014 WL 415955, at *15 (N.D. Fla. Feb. 4, 2014); Pinnacle Port Cmty. Ass’n v. Orenstein, 872 F.2d 1536, 1539 (11th Cir. 1989).

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2 Defenses to Claim for Breach of Joint Venture Agreement

(1) Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.110(d) (pleading affirmative defenses), and other standard defenses. See § 1.

(2) Statute of Limitations: § 95.11(3)(k), Fla. Stat. (four years).

(3) Statute of Frauds: “Joint venture agreements are not required to be in writing. Where the agreement has no fixed time for performance and nothing in its term indicates that performance could not be made within one year, the agreement should not be construed as falling within the statute of frauds.” De Ribeaux v. Del Valle, 531 So. 2d 992, 993 (Fla. 3d DCA 1988); Bluesky Greenland Envtl.  Solutions, LLC v. 21st Century Planet Fund, LLC, 985 F.Supp.2d 1356, 1364 (S.D. Fla. 2013); In re Hallucination Media, LLC, No. 24-10194, 2024 WL 3898536, at *6 (11th Cir. Aug. 22, 2024).

(4) Written Agreement: Although a joint venture agreement need not be in writing, failure to produce a written agreement is evidence that no agreement existed. See Conklin Shows v. Dep’t of Revenue, 684 So. 2d 328, 332 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996); Vannamei Corp. v. Elite Intern. Telecomm., Inc., 881 So.2d 561, 562 (Fla. 3d DCA 2004).

(5) Constitutional Prohibition: “Neither the state nor any county, school district, municipality, special district, or agency of any of them, shall become a joint owner with, or stockholder of, or give, lend or use its taxing power or credit to aid any corporation, association, partnership or person . . . ” Art. VII, § 10, Fla. Const. (1968); see also Donovan v. Okaloosa County, 82 So.3d 801, 809 (Fla. 2012) (holding that “the purpose of this provision is to protect public funds and resources from being exploited in assisting or promoting private ventures when the public would be at most only incidentally benefited”).

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