Re: Breach of Verbal Contract
The previous answers don't seem particularly helpful, especially the one from the out-of-state attorney who is misquoting California's law with respect to oral contracts and the statute of frauds.
To me, the most helpful fact you've given is that the corporation compensated you with shares of stock. If true, you have rights as a stockholder. If the company has undergone a recapitalization, and the other founders got something for their shares, you'd be entitled to the same. Or, perhaps, the company has just continued to crank out new shares, diluting your interest down to near nothing, like a third-world country printing money with ever more zeros to fuel hyperinflation.
California does enforce oral contracts with a few major exceptions. Many sales of goods for amounts in excess of $500 must be evidenced by a writing of some kind, and most agreements to convey interests in real property must be in writing. However, your biggest problem is the statute of limitations for oral contracts is two years from the time of breach (not from the time the agreement was made).
There is also a theory called "quantum meruit" (legal Latin for "what it was worth") upon which someone can be reimbursed for services rendered if failure to reimburse would unjustly enrich the other. Your case would seem to fall under this heading.
So, I believe a properly prepared and presented case would result at least in your receiving money compensation for your services, which you say are well documented, and possibly at least partial recognition of your shares and equity participation in the company. Minority shareholders don't have much power or many rights, but they certainly have some, including the right to participate equally in dividends, distributions, and shares issued in a recapitalization.
Please contact me with particulars; I am well versed in the legal aspects of minority shareholder rights (partly from personal experience) and I can give you a free consultation based upon all your facts.
