Opinion ID: 1867874
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Interpretation of Wis. Stat. ง 218.0116(8)

Text: ถ 115 The DHA administrator affirmed the decision of the DHA hearing examiner who interpreted the terms motor vehicle dealer agreement in Wis. Stat. ง 218.0116(8)(a) as not including Racine H-D's Territory. The validity of this determination is affected by whether the description of Racine H-D's Territory was an agreement between Harley-Davidson and Racine H-D, as agreement is defined in Wis. Stat. ง 218.0101(1). Section 218.0101(1) provides that an agreement is a contract that describes the franchise relationship between manufacturers, distributors, importers and dealers. Therefore, the agreement of ง 218.0116(8) is a contract that covers a particular relationship. ถ 116 Contract is not defined in ch. 218; however, contract is a legal term of art to which courts apply an accepted meaning. Wis. Citizens Concerned for Cranes & Doves v. DNR, 2004 WI 40, ถ 6, 270 Wis.2d 318, 677 N.W.2d 612; see also Wis. Stat. ง 990.01 (explaining that legal terms of art are to be given their accepted legal meanings). A contract has been defined generally as an agreed set of obligations that are enforceable or otherwise recognizable at law. Black's Law Dictionary 341 (8th ed.2004). ถ 117 The terms that make up a contract can be ascertained by employing well-settled legal principles of contract construction. Therefore, I would give no common law deference to the DHA administrator's statutory interpretation, as an initial matter because I conclude it is not the type of decision to which common law deference has been accorded, as I explained above, and also because, simply stated, the question to be answered is: What are the terms of the parties' contract? Neither the DHA hearing examiner nor the DHA administrator is more skilled than is a court in deciding this question. End-User Gas Ass'n, 218 Wis.2d at 565, 581 N.W.2d 556.