John Bickley frequently ate lunch at a Mexican restaurant where Carlos Mendez and Jose Manuel worked. Bickley told Mendez and Manuel that the business where he worked, a motorcycle repair shop, was going out of business, and he suggested that they might want to help him open a new motorcycle repair shop. The three men signed a 2-year lease on a building for the shop. Mendez and Manuel paid the security deposit and first month's rent for the building. They also gave Bickley some money, when he asked for it, to buy inventory for the shop and get it ready for business.
Soon after the shop opened, Mendez and Manuel asked for keys to the building. Bickley refused to give them keys. They asked to see his receipts and invoices; he refused. They asked to work at the shop; he refused. They demanded a written agreement with Bickley about the money they had given him; he refused. They hired a lawyer, who sent a demand letter on their behalf to Bickley. Bickley did not respond. Eventually Mendez and Manuel filed suit against Bickley for a return of the funds they had given him. Bickley counterclaimed for "breach of contract by his partners."
Did the three men have a partnership? Discuss whether a partnership was created under the Revised Uniform Partnership Act.