ContractsProf Blog

If you want something specific, ask for it in your contract

A recent case out of the Second Circuit, Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics Bermuda Co. Ltd. v. FMC, LLC, No. 17-2400-cv (behind paywall), is another case about interpretation of contract terms -- twice over. Because here the parties entered into a contract, fought over breach of that contract, and then entered into a settlement agreement, which they were also fighting over. The moral is that, if you want something specific, you should ask for it rather than relying on unspoken industry practices. 

The initial agreement between the parties was about an IT operating system. Although the system was going to cost $70 million, the contract wasn't very detailed, with no technical specifications or description of building methods. The parties' relationship deteriorated and they eventually entered into a Settlement Agreement to terminate the project. Under these new terms, FCM would be released from its obligation to provide the system to Ortho, while providing assistance while Ortho transitioned to a different contractor. After execution of the Settlement Agreement, Ortho apparently realized that FCM was not as far along as Ortho had thought and had not prepared certain items that Ortho had assumed it had prepared, and so Ortho claimed that as a result the IT system cost more and took longer. 

The court, however, noted that there was nothing in the contract requiring FCM to produce the certain deliverables Ortho had been looking for. Ortho claimed it was "standard practice in the industry," but the court said that wasn't the equivalent of it being a contractual obligation. FCM was contractually required to provide assistance -- no more, no less. There was nothing in the contract about the job having to be at a particular stage of completion, or that any particular deliverables or documentation had to exist. 

The court also pointed out that Ortho had released its claims regarding the original agreement in the Settlement Agreement. Ortho tried to argue that it had released claims but not damages but the court called that "a nonsensical reading." 

On Ambiguity: 80 Example Exercises from D.C. Toedt

Nothing communicates the meaning and effects of ambiguity like a good example. So how about eighty of them in one place? 

Our friend over at the On Contracts blog, D.C. Toedt (Houston), has generously posted a collection of 80 exercises illustrating textual ambiguity. The sources vary widely, ranging from legal and religious texts to news items, popular culture, and even comic strips. Toedt uses the exercises in his contract-drafting course, challenging students to rewrite to clarify the meaning. The examples would work well in teaching ambiguity and contract interpretation in the 1L doctrinal course, as well.   

And let's face it: In addition to being pedagogically useful, ambiguities can be downright funny. Enjoy the list! 

Weekly Top Ten SSRN Contracts & Commercial Law Downloads for June 28, 2018

Top Downloads For:

Contracts & Commercial Law eJournal

Recent Top Papers (60 days)

As of: 29 Apr 2018 - 28 Jun 2018

Rank	Paper	Downloads
1.	Data Pollution Omri Ben-Shahar University of Chicago Law School	180
2.	Legal Engineering on the Blockchain: 'Smart Contracts' as Legal Conduct Jake Goldenfein and Andrea Leiter Swinburne University of Technology - Swinburne Law School and University of Melbourne, Law School	151
3.	The Stakes of Smart Contracts Mark Verstraete University of Arizona - James E. Rogers College of Law	149
4.	Teaching Fairness to Artificial Intelligence: Existing and Novel Strategies Against Algorithmic Discrimination Under EU Law Philipp Hacker Humboldt University of Berlin	144
5.	The Interpretation and Effect of Permissive Forum Selection Clauses Under U.S. Law Hannah L. Buxbaum Indiana University Bloomington Maurer School of Law	131
6.	Secured Transactions and IP Licenses: Comparative Observations and Reform Suggestions Andrea Tosato University of Nottingham - School of Law	126
7.	Collateral Damage: Brexit's Negative Effects on Regulatory Competition and Legal Innovation in Private Law Horst Eidenmueller University of Oxford	86
8.	Equity as Supplemental Law Paul B. Miller Notre Dame Law School	86
9.	Force Majeure and Excuses in Smart Contracts Eric Tjong Tjin Tai Tilburg Law School	84
10.	Contract and Consumer Law Vanessa Mak Tilburg Law School	80

 

Top Downloads For:

Law & Society: Private Law - Contracts eJournal

Recent Top Papers (60 days)

As of: 29 Apr 2018 - 28 Jun 2018

Rank	Paper	Downloads
1.	Data Pollution Omri Ben-Shahar University of Chicago Law School	180
2.	The Stakes of Smart Contracts Mark Verstraete University of Arizona - James E. Rogers College of Law	149
3.	A Duty to ‘Save’ Seemingly Non-Compliant Tenders for Public Contracts? - Comments on Art 72 of the 2017 Portuguese Code of Public Contracts Albert Sanchez-Graells University of Bristol - School of Law	144
4.	The Interpretation and Effect of Permissive Forum Selection Clauses Under U.S. Law Hannah L. Buxbaum Indiana University Bloomington Maurer School of Law Date Posted: 08 May 2018  Last Revised: 08 May 2018	131
5.	Secured Transactions and IP Licenses: Comparative Observations and Reform Suggestions Andrea Tosato University of Nottingham - School of Law	126
6.	Force Majeure and Excuses in Smart Contracts Eric Tjong Tjin Tai Tilburg Law School	84
7.	Contract and Consumer Law Vanessa Mak Tilburg Law School	80
8.	The Evolution of Good Faith in Western Contract Law Samuel Martin Yeshiva University, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Students	80
9.	Personalizing Mandatory Rules in Contract Law Omri Ben-Shahar and Ariel Porat University of Chicago Law School and Tel Aviv University	79
10.	Privacy Remedies Lauren Henry Scholz Florida State University - College of Law	73

Your contract should say what you want; fancier terms are not always a good thing

A recent case out of the Southern District of New York, Treasure Chest Themed Value Mail, Inc. v. David Morris International, Inc., 17 Civ. 1 (NRB), deals with a digital marketing contract, presenting a variety of straightforward interpretation questions that could be helpful for basic examples for some things to look out for in contract drafting. 

The parties entered into a contract in which Treasure Chest was required to provide "greater than 300,000 follow up weekly digital impressions." The first dispute was over whether "digital impressions" was too ambiguous to be enforced. The court, however, easily defined "digital impression" with reference to investopedia.com. The court distinguished "digital impression" from "email," saying if the parties had meant "email" they would have used the word "email." A lesson in just using what you wish to say if that's indeed what you want; fancier terms are not always necessary and might just leave some room open for arguments about ambiguity and interpretation. 

There was also a dispute over whether it was ambiguous that compensation was "up to" a certain amount. But the court disagreed, saying it was clear that this simply meant the contract would not exceed a certain amount. 

Therefore, the court found there was a valid contract, that Treasure Chest fulfilled all of its obligations under the contract, and David Morris did not, so Treasure Chest was entitled to damages. Treasure Chest also sought attorneys' fees, but the court found that the contract was not clear enough to justify attorneys' fees. The contract said that "costs necessary to collect" past due balances could be awarded, but the court said that did not satisfy the "high standard" for collection of attorneys' fees via contract. Again, if attorneys' fees are what you want, attorneys' fees are probably what you should say. 

Robert Ahdieh named dean at Texas A&M University School of Law

Forgive my taking an editor's privilege here to share an exciting announcement from my home institution. We are thrilled to have Bobby Ahdieh joining our faculty as dean!

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Texas A&M University has appointed Robert B. Ahdieh as dean and holder of the Anthony G. Buzbee Endowed Dean’s Chair at its School of Law, located in Fort Worth.

Ahdieh is currently the K.H. Gyr Professor of Private International Law and Director of the Center on Federalism and Intersystemic Governance at Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, Georgia.

University officials say the School of Law has made unprecedented strides since joining the Texas A&M community in 2013, currently ranking among the top 80 law schools in the nation according to U.S. News & World Report. Officials say the School of Law’s forward progress is due to a number of efforts which include increasing its entering class profile; hiring a cohort of nationally recognized scholars who have added to the research strengths of the existing faculty; and enhancing its academic programs, allowing it to offer a rich educational experience to its students.

“We couldn’t be more proud of what our law school faculty, staff, and students have achieved during the School of Law’s first few years as part of Texas A&M,” said Texas A&M University President Michael K. Young. “With the university’s support and Bobby Ahdieh’s vision, scholarly reputation and administrative experience, we are well-positioned to accelerate the law school’s progress even more in the years to come.”

As dean, Ahdieh will oversee all academic and operational affairs of the law school, and will report to Texas A&M Provost and Executive Vice President Carol Fierke, who in announcing his appointment, emphasized Ahdieh’s achievements as a leader in the field of legal education, his significant administrative experience as vice dean and associate dean of faculty at Emory University, and the strength of his scholarly credentials. In particular, she highlighted his record of success in a variety of critical areas, including admissions, alumni relations, career development, faculty appointments and development, interdisciplinary initiatives, and the development of non-JD degree programs during his tenure at Emory.

Ahdieh holds a Bachelor of Arts from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School. He served as law clerk to Judge James R. Browning of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit before his selection for the Attorney General’s Honors Program of the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

His scholarly interests revolve around questions of regulatory and institutional design, especially in the business and financial arena. In addition to a monograph on legal transition in the former Soviet Union, published while he was still in law school, Ahdieh’s work has appeared in leading journals including the NYU Law Review, the Michigan Law Review, the Minnesota Law Review, the Boston University Law Review, and the Southern California Law Review.

In accepting the position, Ahdieh reflected on the significant potential of the law school, saying, “I believe no law school in the country has traveled further, in so short a time. Nor does any have more upside potential, going forward.”

Among the key priorities for the School of Law in the coming years, say university officials, will be continuing to build a world-class faculty and ensuring that faculty have the resources necessary to produce research of consequence and significance; extending the audience for a Texas A&M legal education beyond students seeking a three-year J.D., including through new and expanded non-J.D. programs; and enhancing the scope of the law school’s external engagement through active outreach to the community, graduates, and colleagues in legal academia – an effort that will require the active participation of faculty and staff.

Continued investment in faculty excellence and in the recruitment of great students, systematic efforts to increase awareness of the school’s achievements, a focused fundraising campaign, and employer outreach targeted to improving the quantity and quality of placement opportunities available to students around Texas, the United States, and around the world are particular initiatives Ahdieh says he plans to undertake upon taking up the deanship on July 15.

Young and Fierke acknowledged the work of the Search Advisory Committee and thanked Professor Thomas W. Mitchell for his invaluable service as interim dean over the last year.

About Texas A&M University

Texas A&M, established in 1876 as the first public university in Texas, is one of the nation’s largest universities with more than 66,000 students and more than 440,000 living alumni residing in over 150 countries around the world. A tier-one university, Texas A&M holds the rare triple land-, sea- and space-grant designation. Research conducted at Texas A&M represented annual expenditures of more than $905.4 million in fiscal year 2017. Texas A&M’s research creates new knowledge that provides basic, fundamental and applied contributions resulting, in many cases, in economic benefits to the state, nation and world. The school’s Lead by Example campaign is a comprehensive effort to raise $4 billion by the year 2020, making it the largest higher education campaign in Texas history and the second largest conducted nationally by a public university. Aggies are known for their deep commitment to the success of each other and a strong desire to serve.

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Media Contact:  Kelly Brown, [email protected].

Return of the Weekly Top Ten! Contracts & Commercial Law Downloads for June 21, 2018

After a thoroughly unplanned hiatus for early 2018, the Weekly Top Ten SSRN Downloads List returns to ContractsProf Blog.  Hot topics include smart contracts, forum selection, and good faith. Enjoy!

 

Top SSRN Downloads For:

Contracts & Commercial Law eJournal

Recent Top Papers (60 days)

As of: 22 Apr 2018 - 21 Jun 2018

Rank	Paper	Downloads
1.	Data Pollution Omri Ben-Shahar University of Chicago Law School	151
2.	Legal Engineering on the Blockchain: 'Smart Contracts' as Legal Conduct Jake Goldenfein and Andrea Leiter Swinburne University of Technology - Swinburne Law School and University of Melbourne, Law School	138
3.	The Stakes of Smart Contracts Mark Verstraete University of Arizona - James E. Rogers College of Law	127
4.	The Interpretation and Effect of Permissive Forum Selection Clauses Under U.S. Law Hannah L. Buxbaum Indiana University Bloomington Maurer School of Law	123
5.	Teaching Fairness to Artificial Intelligence: Existing and Novel Strategies Against Algorithmic Discrimination Under EU Law Philipp Hacker Humboldt University of Berlin	116
6.	Secured Transactions and IP Licenses: Comparative Observations and Reform Suggestions Andrea Tosato University of Nottingham - School of Law	116
7.	Why Markets? Welfare, Autonomy, and the Just Society Hanoch Dagan Tel Aviv University - Buchmann Faculty of Law	103
8.	Collateral Damage: Brexit's Negative Effects on Regulatory Competition and Legal Innovation in Private Law Horst Eidenmueller University of Oxford	82
9.	Equity as Supplemental Law Paul B. Miller Notre Dame Law School	82
10.	Contract and Consumer Law Vanessa Mak Tilburg Law School	74

 

Top SSRN Downloads For:

Law & Society: Private Law - Contracts eJournal

Recent Top Papers (60 days)

As of: 22 Apr 2018 - 21 Jun 2018

Rank	Paper	Downloads
1.	The Forgotten History of Metes and Bounds Maureen (Molly) Brady University of Virginia - School of Law	292
2.	Data Pollution Omri Ben-Shahar University of Chicago Law School	151
3.	A Duty to ‘Save’ Seemingly Non-Compliant Tenders for Public Contracts? - Comments on Art 72 of the 2017 Portuguese Code of Public Contracts Albert Sanchez-Graells University of Bristol - School of Law	140
4.	The Stakes of Smart Contracts Mark Verstraete University of Arizona - James E. Rogers College of Law	127
5.	The Interpretation and Effect of Permissive Forum Selection Clauses Under U.S. Law Hannah L. Buxbaum Indiana University Bloomington Maurer School of Law	123
6.	Secured Transactions and IP Licenses: Comparative Observations and Reform Suggestions Andrea Tosato University of Nottingham - School of Law	116
7.	Contract and Consumer Law Vanessa Mak Tilburg Law School	74
8.	The Evolution of Good Faith in Western Contract Law Samuel Martin Yeshiva University, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Students	74
9.	Force Majeure and Excuses in Smart Contracts Eric Tjong Tjin Tai Tilburg Law School	72
10.	Interpreting Contracts Without Context John F. Coyle and Mark C. Weidemaier University of North Carolina School of Law and University of North Carolina School of Law	67

Is the viral umpire video a breach of contract?

Recently a video went viral showing a 2016 altercation around an umpire ejecting Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard after he threw a fastball behind the Dodgers' Chase Utley. Umpires wear microphones during Major LeagueBaseball games, and the resulting (often loud and profane) discussions with Mets players and especially Mets manager Terry Collins was recorded. 

The video recently surfaced in an apparent leak, because MLB has announced its intention to try to scrub the video from the internet. MLB's reason for this is that it violates a "commitment" that "certain types of interactions" involving umpires during baseball games would not be made public, claiming it was "in the collective bargaining agreement" and that there was "no choice" but to scrub the video from the internet. Indeed, according to one report it had already been scrubbed. 

Not so fast, though, because I found it still embedded in news reports about it. It's hard to get anything to vanish from the internet, especially once it's gone viral, but it's not that difficult to locate this video at all. 

And it's not hard to see why it went viral. It's a fascinating glimpse into a part of the game fans seldom get to see. As others have pointed out, the umpire does a fantastic job in the clip, so it's hardly like he's being cast in a bad light. The manager doesn't even come across all that poorly. In fact, in my opinion, the party that comes out of the clip looking the worst is Major League Baseball and its confusing way of handling the explosive Chase Utley situation. 

It's unclear what "interactions" were agreed to be withheld from the public, but this one is certainly an interesting one. I'd love to know what the contract terms actually are. 

A warning against trying to "nebulously" slip in language that would change an agreement's meaning

A recent case out of the District of Arizona, Colocation America Corporation v. Mitel Networks Corporation, No. CV-17-00421-PHX-NVW (behind paywall - h/t to reader D.C. Toedt for the non-paywall link!), is, in its own words, "a poster child for the rule of Section 201(2) of the Restatement." 

The dispute was over whether or not an agreement between the parties to transfer a domain name also involved the transfer of IP addresses. The section at issue was ambiguously worded: "Mitel hereby agrees to quit claim . . . the goodwill of the business connected with and symbolized by [the] Domain Name and the associated IPv4 134.22.0.0/16 and any associated trade dress . . . ." Mitel claimed this required it to quit claim the goodwill of the business associated with the IP addresses. Colocation contended Mitel was required to quit claim the goodwill AND the IP addresses AND the trade dress. 

The court found that the wording was ambiguous but that the rest of the contract supported Mitel's interpretation, since the contract did not mention the IP addresses anywhere else. At every other point the contract discussed the transfer only of the domain name. There were no clauses about the transfer of the IP addresses other than that one mention in the clause quoted. 

Furthermore, the court found that Mitel had no reason to know Colocation thought it was acquiring the IP addresses. By contrast, though, Colocation did have reason to know that Mitel thought the agreement was not about the IP addresses. In fact, evidence showed that Colocation "intentionally misled" Mitel by pretending to wish to buy only the domain name and keeping all discussions domain-name focused, while "nebulously" slipping the IP addresses into the contract. The IP addresses were worth far more than the amount the parties agreed on for transferring the domain name, and the court found that this was further proof Colocation knew that Mitel only intended to transfer the domain name, not the IP addresses. 

As the court summarized,

"Colocation's objective from the outset was to acquire the IPv4 addresses. But it purported to negotiate only for a domain name without ever leveling with Mitel Networks. Colocation not only had 'reason to know' Mitel Networks attached a 'different meaning' to their agreement, it created and promoted that different meaning on the part of Mitel Networks. Thus, the Domain Name Assignment Agreement must be interpreted in accordance with the meaning attached by Mitel Networks, that is, as an agreement to assign a domain name and goodwill and not as an agreement to transfer IPv4 addresses."

It's True: People Really Are Getting Dumber and Dumber

New scientific studies have proven what we might all have been jokingly saying, but which apparently is true: the world population is increasing, but IQ levels are decreasing.   The reason?  Nurture, not nature. 

The studies claim that after 1975, IQ levels started to drop because of, it is thought, "environmental factors."  These could include pollution, changes in the education system and media environment, nutrition, reading less, and being online more.   Yikes.

"It's not that dumb people are having more kids than smart people, to put it crudely. It's something to do with the environment, because we're seeing the same differences within families," said one of the co-authors and lead researchers on the project.

For us, this is not good news for obvious reasons.  But are we, in fact, a contributing cause?  I know that some of my students, for example, do not enjoy and sometimes simply will not read long homework assignments, don't read privately, and indeed spend large amounts of time online.  I'm sure your students are not very unlike mine in that respect.  Other studies that I don't have handy here also demonstrate that our students have difficulty reading longer texts simply because they are not used to reading anything much longer than blog posts, twitter feeds, and maybe the occasional article here and there, but certainly not books.  

Read the entire findings.  References to "changes in the education system" and "decreasing access to education" are disturbing.

 

 

Employees Beware: You are Contractually Presumed to be At-will

A new case out of Minnesota and subsequently the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit once again confirms what we suspect already: if there is any doubt about an employee’s status, he or she is likely to be held to be an at-will employee.  Consider this:

Daniel Ayala is hired as an at-will employee in 2006 to serve as a vice president for CyberPower.  In 2012, Ayala and CyberPower agree to convert his position to executive vice president for sales and general manager for Latin America. The written contract details his salary and compensation status, stating that the agreement “outlines the new salary and bonus structure to remain in place until$150 million USD [sic] is reached.  It is not a multiyear commitment or employment contract for either party” (emphasis added).  Ayala is fired before sales could reach $150.  He claims breach of contract, contractual fraud, and unpaid wages, arguing that he was no longer an at-will employee, but rather should have been allowed to remain with the company at least until, as stated in the contract, the sales reached $150 million.  CyberPower also relies on the contractual language, arguing that it unambiguously did notmodify his status as an at-will employee as contained the phrase that it was “not a multiyear commitment or employment contract.”

The appellate court agreed with CyberPower, highlighting the fact that the text of the agreement indicates that it governed compensation only.  In Minnesota, there is a “strong presumption of at-will employment” which was applied here. The court also pointed out that Ayala did not produce any evidence supporting his claim that the company defrauded him by promising a definite term of employment and then firing him before the completion of the term.

Fair enough, it seems… until you consider the following as well: Ayala performed very well in his first sales position, bring the company’s annual sales from “virtually nothing” to almost $50 million by 2012.  He aspired to become the company’s president when the original president, Robert Lovett, decided to retire.  Lovett allegedly assured Ayala that he would be considered for that position but - surprise! - chose his son Brent as his successor when he retired in 2012.  Ayala then expressed his desire to leave the company, but was persuaded to stay to mentor Brent (thus expecting Ayala to train his own replacement, in effect.). Ayala was assured that if he stayed, he would receive “better compensation, a promotion and a written contract ensuring Ayala long-term employment.”  He was indeed promoted and, per the contract, promised to be able to stay “until” sales reached a certain amount, if the contractual language had been weighed that way.  Further, the contract does not say that his position was in fact at-will.  His previous contract had, in contrast, specifically said so.

Because of the parol evidence rule and, probably, the lack of written evidence of the negotiation statements, Ayala lost.  The presumption about at-will employment may have been correctly applied.  Not all court cases are resolved in a fair way for the employees.  But the case clearly reeks of nepotism, luring an employee to stay with a company under false pretenses, and broken oral promises. True, Ayala did not have evidence of the oral negotiations, but neither did CyberPower.

Why is it apparently so darned important in U.S. society to treat employees as mere objects that can be disposed of at will, by definition?  Why would it be so horrible to have to give employees a decent amount of notice and perhaps even a reasonable reason for being let go?  Many other highly developed nations around the world – especially those in Europe – do not employ such law.  These nations do very well.  Companies there make good profits.  Employees have more job security.  They are equally, if not more, productive than American workers.  What’s so bad about that?! 

Clearly, cultural factors play a role in this context. That’s unlikely to change.  In the meantime, employees in the U.S. should continue to be critical towards oral promises made by their employers and get every important term in writing.  Of course, that is easier said than done in today’s often difficult job market and resulting reasonable fears of losing or not getting a coveted position. Employees such as Ayala should not be seen as mere impersonal chess pieces that can be manipulated and moved around for employer benefits only.  But they often are.

The case is Daniel Ayala v. CyberPower Systems (USA), Inc., 2018 WL 2703102.

Arbitration clause enforceability seems like a pretty safe bet these days

There is very little you can bet on in life but it seems like the continued prevalence of arbitration clauses is one of them. We just had a Supreme Court ruling confirming that, and a recent case out of Nebraska, Heineman v. The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society, No. S-17-983, continues in the same vein. 

In the case, a nursing home resident sued the facility for injuries he sustained while living there. The nursing home facility sought to arbitrate the dispute under the arbitration clause Heineman agreed to before being admitted as a resident of the facility. The lower court refused to enforce the arbitration clause based on lack of mutuality of obligation as well as finding it contrary to public policy. The appellate court, however, disagreed. 

First, Heineman's argument on mutality of obligation concerned allegations that the nursing home facility had filed lawsuits against its residents without pursuing arbitration first. Heineman therefore argued that the nursing home's conduct indicated that only Heineman was bound by the arbitration clause. However, Heineman's argument depended on the court taking judicial notice of those lawsuits, considering that, as drafted, the arbitration clause did bind the nursing home. For some reason, though, this was apparently not an argument Heineman made at the lower court level, because the appellate court refused to take judicial notice of the lawsuits because they had not been presented to the trial court.

As far as the public policy concern went, the lower court had relied on a federal regulation prohibiting arbitration clauses as a requirement for admission to long-term care facilities. However, that regulation was passed almost two years after Heineman signed his arbitration clause, and at any rate has been enjoined from application by a federal court. Because there was no other legislation expressing a public policy against arbitration in the context of nursing-home facilities, the court found the arbitration clause was enforceable.

The Meaning of “Iced Tea”

Here’s a nice little case that lends itself well to classroom use.

The Robertson family owned Duck Commander, Inc. (“DC”), a hunting supplies company that eventually morphed into an iced tea maker after Si Robertson ("Uncle Si") became known for the its members’ affinity for ice tea on a reality TV show about duck hunting.  This was broadcast on the A&E network.

In late 2013, DC contracted with Chinook USA, LLC (“Chinook”), a ready-to-drink beverage company, to produce and market the Robertson family’s ice teas in cooperation with the Robertsons.  A fairly elaborate contract is drawn up.  This spells out the corporations’ mutual obligations in relation to “iced tea,” “ready-to-drink [RTD] teas,” and “RTD beverages.”  This includes an integration clause purporting to make the agreement the “entire understanding between the parties.”

A few months later, in the summer of 2014, sales of iced tea apparently did not go as well as the parties had hoped and planned for.  The Robertson family thus branched out into energy drinks and vitamin water.  DC contracted with another marketer of those products.  Chinooks sued DC for breach of contract, among other things claiming that the contractual terms “iced tea,” “ready-to-drink teas,” and “RTD beverages” also encompassed vitamin water and energy drinks and that DC should thus also have dealt with Chinook in relation to those products.

The contract was held to be ambiguous.  Parol evidence was brought in showing that during the contract negotiations, iced tea accounted for about 95% of the focus of the negotiations with coffee products for the other 5%.  No mention had been made of energy drinks or similar products.  After contract execution, a Chinook negotiator sent Chinook an email stating “[T]hank you for taking the time to ask for a confirmation of Chinook USA’s rights as our exclusive licensee of tea ….  This email confirms the same.”

Oops, it’s difficult to claim afterthe fact that when you yourself – a seasoned company with professional negotiators – get a deal for “tea,” you really intended something more than that.  The appellate court thus also affirmed the district court’s judgment against Chinook on its breach of contract claims (see Chinook USA, L.L.C. v. Duck Commander, Incorporated, 2018 WL 1357986).  https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca5/17-30596/17-30596-2018-03-15.html

This case lends itself well to students issue-spotting issues such as contract interpretation, ambiguity, the PER, etc., but could also be used to discuss bargaining powers, party sophistication, and the smartness of, if nothing else, sending confirmatory memos… only they should, of course, be drafted such that they truly represent the parties’ intent.  If that was the case in this matter, was Chinook simply regretting not getting a broader agreement at a point when sales of the originally intended product was already known to falter?  This appears to be the case here.

Saving illusory promises with implied covenants of good faith and fair dealing

If you teach Lady Duff-Gordon, as I teach Lady Duff-Gordon, you know that it's a fun case that lets you talk about a frankly pretty incredible life. But it's also an older case, so here's a more recent case out of New York using the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing to potentially save an allegedly illusory promise, Ely v. Phase One Networks, Inc., 2667/2017 (behind paywall). 

The plaintiff is a composer. The defendant is a company that produces music albums. The parties entered into recording and co-publishing agreements. The plaintiff sought a declaratory judgment that the contracts are unenforceable because they are illusory and unconscionable and moved for summary judgment. The court found that factual disputes existed as to both the unconscionability and illusory allegations. The analysis on unconscionability was very brief, but the court did provide a slightly deeper analysis on the illusory promise front. Although the recording contract provided that the recordings were "subject to the defendant's approval in its sole judgment," the court noted that the covenant of good faith and fair dealing "implicit in all contracts" meant that "the defendant could not unreasonably withhold approval." 

A good cause termination clause operates to save oral agreement from statute of frauds writing requirement

Here's another helpful teaching case, this time for the statute of frauds section. Out of Delaware, World Class Wholesale, LLC v. Star Industries, Inc., C.A. No. N17C-05-093 MMJ, discusses the "one year" statute of frauds category. The parties entered into an oral agreement "in which WCW agreed to be the exclusive distributor of Star's products in Delaware for an indefinite period of time." Star contended that the oral agreement violated the statute of frauds and should have been in writing. 

The court disagreed. WCW had alleged that the oral agreement contained a "'good cause' termination clause." This meant that either party could have terminated the agreement with good cause at any time, including within a year. Therefore, under Delaware law, there was a possibility this oral agreement could have been permissibly terminated and therefore performed within one year, and therefore the statute of frauds did not block enforcement of it. 

Why you should take that integration clause seriously

Here's a parol evidence case if you're looking for a recent example for teaching purposes. It's out of the Northern District of Illinois, Eclipse Gaming Systems, LLC v. Antonucci, 17 C 196. 

The case concerned licensing agreements for source code for casino gaming software. The court found that the written agreement was facially unambiguous and complete and contained an integration clause. Nonetheless, the counter-plaintiffs argued that evidence of a contemporaneous oral agreement should be permitted. But the court refused, finding that Illinois law, which governed the contract, required the parties to put any contemporaneous oral agreements into the four corners of their unambiguous integrated contract if they wished them to be enforced. The counter-plaintiffs argued that they should be allowed to present their parol evidence to show the contract was in fact ambiguous, but the Illinois Supreme Court had rejected that approach where the contract contained an explicit integration clause, as was the case here. 

Counter-plaintiffs claimed that their parol evidence would establish that no contract was ever formed between the parties but the court found that such evidence would contradict the terms of the contract, which contained explicit terms regarding its effectiveness, and parol evidence was inadmissible to "contradict the clear written provisions of an integrated contract." The written licensing agreement, the court found, was not equivalent to a letter of intent that provided some question on the parties' intent to be bound, but instead was clear on the parties' intent to be bound. 

Counter-plaintiffs tried to turn to promissory estoppel but the court noted that promissory estoppel should be used to rescue promises that didn't rise to the level of an enforceable contract. The counter-plaintiffs were instead trying to use the doctrine to vary the terms of their written contract. 

There were other allegations and analyses, including pertaining to mutual mistake and unconscionability, but these also failed. 

Why do employers sue employees who leave to work for companies that don't compete against them?

A recent case out of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Catalyst Outdoor Advertising, LLC v. Douglas, Civil Action No. 18-1470, declined to enforce a non-compete against the defendant Douglas, who had gone to work for an outdoor advertising firm that covered Manhattan and the Bronx. Catalyst, meanwhile, worked out of the Philadelphia area. The non-compete in question had no geographic limitations, which the court took issue with, noting it "covers the entire world." Catalyst asked the court to define reasonable geographic limits for the non-compete but the court declined to do so, stating, "[D]efining the boundaries is not our job." Additionally, because Catalyst operated in Southeastern Pennsylvania (with one billboard along the New Jersey Turnpike) and Douglas's new employer operated only within New York City, the court found that the two companies were not in competition with each other. 

The court also found that Douglas had no confidential information belonging to Catalyst and that there was no evidence the information she knew from working at Catalyst would be beneficial in the entirely new territory of New York City. Therefore, the court concluded there was no likelihood of irreparable harm. 

This is one of those cases that, from a pragmatic standpoint, makes little sense to me. Why would Catalyst pursue a court case against an employee going to work for a company not in its geographic area? The court's irreparable harm analysis seems right to me, that the employee here didn't have any specialized knowledge that could hurt Catalyst, given it didn't compete against the new employer. So, in that case, why is this case worth the money spent by Catalyst to bring it? Even if Catalyst had been successful, what was Catalyst's concrete gain? Is it just that companies don't want any employees to leave ever? Given the breadth of the non-compete in the first place, Catalyst might just be overprotective. Or is there some fact about this case left out of the opinion that makes it make more sense? Is Catalyst contemplating expansion down the road into New York City and is worried this employee might somehow make their plans less successful? This case is in the preliminary injunction stage, so maybe there is information that could arise later that would make it look more likely that Catalyst would succeed on the merits. It seems like Catalyst would have presented that information to the court at this point, though.