Involving a dispute over a contract governing a linen service agreement, a central issue was the viability of plaintiff's "account stated" claim. Now, I've been focusing on account stated claims because they are invariably asserted in creditor lawsuits. This claim has its origin in the U.C.C. governing the sale of goods between merchants. A plaintiff must essentially prove with admissible evidence the defendant's receipt and retention of bills without objection within a reasonable time.
I rarely see businesses prove these mailing-retention elements. Not only that, I rarely see sufficient proof of the new amount, or "account stated."
(Fox Linen Service, Inc. v. Brentword Golf & Country Club, Inc., NYLJ, 3/2/10, at 26, col 3)