Opinion ID: 888353
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: Conflicting Interpretations of the Agreement

Text: ¶ 27 In its September 29, 2004 order, the District Court determined that Edwards Jet had ample opportunity to inspect the log books and airplanes before signing the agreement and that Edwards Jet, upon executing the May 23, 2002 Agreement, took the planes `as is' without any further right to inspect. Edwards Jet claims that the court erred in this respect because the Agreement gave Edwards Jet the right to inspect and object to the aircraft after signing the Agreement and because the language in the Agreement to the effect that Edwards Jet had inspected the aircraft and was taking them as is was operative as of closing, not at signing. Corporate Air disagrees with these interpretations of the Agreement and asserts that by signing the Agreement, Edwards Jet represented that it not only had been given the opportunity to inspect the aircraft, but in fact had done so and was taking the aircraft as is. Thus, as they did in the District Court, the parties dispute what the language of the Agreement actually provides. Accordingly, we begin with an examination of the Agreement to determine whether it gave Edwards Jet the right to inspect the aircraft after the May 23, 2002 signing. ¶ 28 Before doing so, we note Edwards Jet's contention on appeal that the District Court resolved a number of hotly contested factual issues in the context of ruling on the parties' motions for summary judgment. It does indeed appear that the District Court made a number of factual determinations in the face of conflicting evidence presented by the parties. However, we need not list those here or expend a significant amount of time discussing this matter. It suffices to reiterate that it is inappropriate for a district court to enter `findings of fact' when addressing a summary judgment motion. Rather, the court simply should set forth the undisputed facts relevant to the legal issues raised, as well as any disputed facts which may preclude entry of summary judgment. Wurl v. Polson School Dist. No. 23, 2006 MT 8, ¶ 11, 330 Mont. 282, ¶ 11, 127 P.3d 436, ¶ 11. This is so because, at the summary judgment stage, the parties are not arguing over what happened or presenting conflicting evidence; they merely need to know which of them, under the uncontested facts, is entitled to prevail under the applicable law. In such a case, the district court judge need not weigh evidence, choose one disputed fact over another, or assess credibility of the witnesses. He or she must identify the applicable law, apply it to the uncontroverted facts, and determine who wins the case. Cole v. Valley Ice Garden, L.L.C., 2005 MT 115, ¶ 4, 327 Mont. 99, ¶ 4, 113 P.3d 275, ¶ 4. Accordingly, to the extent the District Court resolved factual issueshotly contested or otherwiseat the summary judgment stage of this case, the court erred, and those factual determinations are hereby vacated. ¶ 29 With that, we now turn to the basic principles of contract interpretation that guide our analysis.