Fitchie v. Yirko 570 N.E. 2d 892 (Ill. App. Ct.

1991)
Phyllis Huisel operated a coffee shop called the Hitching-A-Ride, from which
she sold tickets for the Illinois state lottery. A regular customer, Rick Yurko,
frequently purchased lottery tickets from Phyllis. In mid-February 1990,
Yurko purchased $100 dollars worth of $1 Fortune Hunt lottery tickets. The
lottery tickets were the scratch-off variety, which revealed instant winners
when the lottery player scratched off a film covering the tickets. Yurko asked
Phyllis to help him scratch off the tickets, but she suggested that Judy
Fitchie, one of her employees, should scratch off the tickets because Judy
was luckier than Phyllis. Yurko placed several tickets in front of Judy and
Frances Vincent, another customer at the coffee shop, and invited them to
help him scratch them off. Yurko stated that if they would help him scratch
off the lottery tickets, they would be his partners and would share in any
winnings.
After playing for some time, Judy uncovered three television sets and
announced that she had a winner. The ticket scratched by Judy gave the
owner a chance to compete for a $100,000 prize. The owner of the ticket
was required to complete the back of ticket, indicating the name, address,
and phone number of the owner. Completed tickets were to be mailed to the
Illinois Department of the Lottery; six tickets would be drawn and their
owners would appear on the lottery television show.
Judy placed the ticket near Phyllis, and Yurko urged Phyllis to fill it out.
Phyllis did not want to appear on television. Yurko indicated he would appear
on television, and after discussion, Phyllis, Judy, Frances, and Yurko agreed
that Yurko would be their representative and go on television. Yurko then
printed on the back of the ticket "F.J.P. Rick Yurko." F.J.P. represented the
first initials of Frances, Judy, and Phyllis. When Yurko started filling out the
ticket, he told Phyllis that he was going to put all their initials and his name
on the ticket and that they would be partners no matter what they might
win.
The ticket was mailed to the Lottery and was one of six drawn for the lottery
television show. Yurko appeared on the show and won the $100,000 prize.
Thereafter, Yurko claimed all the $100,000 for himself. Phyllis, Judy, and
Frances sued Yurko to recover shares of the winnings. The trial court held
that they were partners or joint venturers entitled to an equal share of the
winnings. Yurko appealed to the Appellate Court of Illinois.
Bowman, Justice The evidence indicates that the arrangement between
Yurko, Phyllis, Judy, and Frances constituted a joint venture. A joint venture
is essentially a partnership carried on for a single enterprise.

A joint venture is an association of two or more persons to carry out a single

enterprise for profit. Whether a joint venture exists is a question of the
intent of the parties. The elements to be considered in determining the
parties' intent are: an agreement to carry on an enterprise; a demonstration
of intent by the parties to be joint venturers; a joint interest, as reflected in
the contribution of property, finances, effort, skill, or knowledge by each
party; a measure of proprietorship or joint control over the enterprise; and
a provision for sharing of profits and losses. A formal agreement is not
essential to establish a joint venture. Rather, the existence of a joint venture
may be inferred from facts and circumstances demonstrating that the
parties, in fact, undertook a joint enterprise.
The parties entered into an agreement and showed their intent to be joint
venturers when they started playing the lottery together. Yurko invited the
women, both verbally and by placing tickets in front of them, to play the
lottery with him. Yurko told them that if they would help him scratch tickets
they would be his partners and would share in any prize winnings. They
expressed agreement with Yurko's proposal when they began scratching off
the tickets.
Both Judy and Frances uncovered tickets that were good for small cash
prizes or more tickets. None of the players tried to claim any of those prizes
as their own. Rather, the tickets were turned in for more tickets, and the
players kept on scratching. After the winning ticket was revealed, there was
discussion amongst all the parties as to who would appear on the television
show. Together, not individually, they decided that Yurko would be the one to
go. Yurko impliedly acknowledged a joint effort when he printed the women's
initials right alongside his own name on the back of the winning ticket, again
amidst talk that he and the women were partners.
A joint interest in the effort to win the lottery is also found in the evidence.
It is undisputed that Yurko paid for the tickets. Frances and Judy expended
their time and energy and put forth effort to scratch the tickets. While
Phyllis's part in this is not altogether clear, Phyllis scratched off a couple of
tickets, and it is evident the other parties considered her part of the
enterprise.
Finally, with regard to provision for sharing of profits, Yurko told the women
they would share in anything that was won if they helped scratch the tickets.
Yurko also wrote the women's initials next to his own on the line provided on
the lottery ticket for the ticket holder's name. This evidence proves that the
joint venturers planned to share equally in any lottery prize ultimately won.

We acknowledge the informality of the arrangement between Yurko and the

women. Nonetheless, the parties should be bound by the terms of their
agreement to jointly carry out an enterprise for profit.
Judgment for Fitchie, Huisel, and Vincent affirmed.