Short answer. Not by court action, as it stands. An agreement that by its terms cannot be performed within a year of the making falls under the Statute of Frauds, so a purely verbal one is unenforceable by suit unless there is a written note or memorandum signed by the party charged — or unless it has been ratified.
What the law says
An agreement that by its terms is not to be performed within a year from the making thereof
Civil Code, Article 1403 — Unenforceable Contracts and the Statute of Frauds. Read the full provision →
Why a one-year deal must be in writing
Article 1403 contains the Statute of Frauds, which lists certain agreements that are unenforceable by action unless put in writing. One of them is an agreement that by its terms is not to be performed within a year from the making thereof. Your deal fits: if, by its own terms, it cannot be completed within a year of when you made it, the statute requires written evidence. A wholly oral agreement of this kind is not illegal or void — but a court will not enforce it over a party's objection without the writing the statute demands.
What counts as sufficient writing
The statute does not require a formal contract. It is enough that some note or memorandum of the agreement be in writing and subscribed by the party charged, or by his agent. The writing must capture the essential terms and bear the signature of the person you are trying to hold liable. Without it, the law says evidence of the agreement cannot even be received — you cannot prove the oral deal through testimony alone. So a signed letter, note, or exchange recording the bargain can satisfy the statute even if no single contract was ever drawn up.
The measure is the terms, not what happened
The test looks at the agreement's own terms at the time it was made, not at how long performance in fact took. If, by its terms, the deal could be fully performed within a year — even if unlikely — it falls outside this particular clause and the writing requirement does not apply to it on this ground. It is only when the terms make completion within a year impossible that the clause bites. Reading the actual terms of your arrangement is therefore the starting point for deciding whether the statute reaches it at all.
Unenforceable is not void, and ratification cures it
An unenforceable contract still exists and can become fully enforceable. Article 1403 opens by saying these contracts bind unless they are ratified. Ratification can occur when the party to be charged accepts benefits under the agreement or fails to object to evidence of it offered in court. Partial performance accepted by the other side can likewise take the deal out of the statute. So the writing requirement is a defense that can be waived or cured; it does not automatically doom a genuine oral agreement that the parties have begun to honor.