Stilwell

Plaintiffs appeal from a judgment dismissing their complaint for an accounting following a ruling which sustained defendants’ objection to the introduction of any evidence on the ground that no cause of action was stated. The sole question presented is whether the complaint sufficiently alleges the existence of a joint venture relationship between plaintiffs and the defendants.

*617 Plaintiffs brought this action for an accounting to apportion losses incurred in connection with an alleged joint venture. All of the defendants answered. At the time of the pretrial conference, one of the defendants submitted a memorandum of points and authorities in support of a motion to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a cause of action; however, although the document was filed, no such motion was made prior to trial. A pretrial order was made, containing the statement: “The pleadings are proper and the issues joined.” At the trial, plaintiffs submitted a trial memorandum of points and authorities, including a brief résumé of the facts which they intended to prove. The first witness was called and defendants objected to the introduction of evidence on the ground that the complaint failed…